Misunderstandings
by Mandie scifi lover
Summary: John's sister comes to visit. Elizabeth doesn't know it's his sister. Hilarity and misunderstanding ensues with a few bad guys thrown in for good measure, of course . Assumes AU starting from middle of third season. Couple years in the future. T for safy
1. Chapter 1

Elizabeth sighed and took another swig from her coffee mug. The city was dark and only the night shift remained. Most of them were talking quietly or reading, doufully manning their posts. She would be heading to bed soon, but there were a few things she still needed to do. She mentally disciplined herself and then turned her concentration back to her computer screen.

She was going through her invoices from the past couple days and the next one was listed "Atlantis visitor from Earth-10/09/10". She frowned as she opened it. No one had informed her about a visitor. As she scanned the message, her frown deepened. It seemed that a one "Nicola Ragen", an army lieutenant, was coming to visit at Colonel Shepperd's request. Apparently this had been in the works for some months in order for her to get clearance to come.

The note was brief and shared little information except that she would be arriving in three days and would be staying through the month. Elizabeth sat back in her chair, feeling twinges of a very unfamiliar emotion. She frowned at herself, realizing almost immediately that it was jealousy. She shook it off, rolling her eyes, and chided herself for being emotional. If John was involved with someone, that was his business. Though why he was allowed to be involved with a lieutenant was beyond her. But, she didn't know all the in's and out's of the rules so perhaps this was allowed.

She closed the message down and decided to call it a night. Coffee mug in hand, she left her office and made her way towards her quarters. Just outside her office she ran into John, passing through the cross corridor.

"Hey!" he said as he skidded to a halt. "I'm just headed over to Ronan's. We're gettin' together to play a little Charades. You interested?"

Elizabeth paused for a moment, surprised by the abrupt appearance of John. "Um, no. I'm just headed off to bed, something that _you_ should probably be doing soon. Mission bright and early tomorrow."

John smiled and shrugged. "Ah, no problem. You sure you don't want to come? I'm sure Ronan will hate the game but I'm gonna get a kick outta just watching him play." A mischievous grin played over his features.

Elizabeth laughed despite herself. "No, I think I'll pass. But you can tell me all about it tomorrow."

John nodded and smiled. "See you tomorrow then."

She smiled as she watched him walk down the hall. Shaking her head, she made her way towards her room.

OOOOO

John knocked lightly on Ronan's door.

"Yeah," came a gravelly voice from inside. John waved his hand over the controller and entered Ronan's room, finding him sprawled out on his chair, Tayla sitting on the floor close by, and Rodney leaning against the wall, tapping things on his small computer screen.

"Everyone ready to play some Charades?" He asked with enthusiasm.

"You know, why do we have to play that game anyway? There's so many better ones you could choose. Besides, Ronan's gonna hate it." Rodney glanced at Ronan, who grunted in reply.

"Hey, Rodney," John said as he pulled a chair around for him to sit on. "The rules are we can all choose whatever game we want and everyone else has to play it. It my turn, I like Charades, so that's what we're going to play."

"All right," Rodney replied and put his hands up. "I'm just sayin'."

"So," Ronan said as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "How do you play this game anyway."

John proceeded to explain the game and demonstrated by pretending to be a wraith. Rodney got it within two seconds of Johns mimic.

"Your world is weird." Was Ronan's response when John was finished explaining.

"Hey," John protested. "I think your galaxy is weird. And anyway, we have to learn this game cause it's my sisters favorite."

The room collectively grew silent.

"Your sister?" Rodney asked. "I didn't know you had a sister."

John shrugged. "Yeah well, I didn't know _you _had a sister until a couple years ago. Anyway, we've always been close but I finally got clearance for her to visit Atlantis. So, she'll be here in three days."

"Three days?" Rodney seemed unable to comprehend the fact that Shepperd had a family, much less a sister.

"I am very happy for you John." Teyla smiled over at him. "I look forward to meeting her. I will do my best to make her feel very welcome."

"Yeah, same." Ronan added.

"Thanks guys." He looked around the room. "Well, who wants to start?"

When no one volunteered, he just shook his head and stood to start the game.


	2. Chapter 2

Over the next three days, Elizabeth didn't hear a word about the elusive Nicola, not from John or anyone else. She continued about her duties as though nothing was bothering her, and indeed she convinced herself that nothing was. She continued to avoid the game nights that were all the rage with her head team, and used the extra time to catch up on her reports. When the day finally arrived, Elizabeth felt like it had been months instead of only three days.

She ate breakfast early, in the hopes of avoiding Colonel Shepperd but on her way out she ran into him, whistling his way into the mess.

"Colonel," she said as she passed him.

"Elizabeth." He said genially, turning his boyish expression on her. "I've got a special visitor coming in today. You gonna come meet her?"

Elizabeth smiled coolly. "No, I've got lots of reports to catch up on."

"You've been catching up a lot lately. I thought that was my department." He gave her a John half-smile.

"Yes, well, don't let this girl make you any more behind that you already are." She said it in jest but internally hoped he would take it to heart. After all, he _was _behind, as usual.

"Well, maybe after she leaves we can have a catch-up party." He raised his eyebrows and smiled. "See you later today."

She nodded and he bounded into the mess. She shook her head to herself, internally happy that he was so excited for this girl's arrival, but at the same time feeling like her world had fallen down around her.

She made her way to her office with the intention of working diligently on her reports, having truly meant what she said about being behind. She sat down at her desk and opened her invoices, looking at the headlines. One immediately caught her eyes: "Nicola Regan status of arrival and procedures".

She stared at it for a moment and bit her lip. She felt a great aversion at opening the e-mail but the leader in her knew she should. She sat for a moment longer, convincing herself why it would be okay to delete it, and then promptly pressed the delete button. She stared at her screen for a moment, feeling a little guilty, and chided herself again for being ridiculous. Why it matter to her so much that John had a female visitor was beyond her. True, they had become close over the years, but it had never been more than friendship. _And it never should_, she reminded herself. He was her second-in-command after all. And anyway, now that this Nicola was coming, she had no doubts that he wasn't interested in her, even if he had been at one time.

She sighed and rolled her eyes at herself again, pulling up a report to work on, vowing never again to be attracted to a man who could attract women like koalas to eucalyptus.

OOOOO

A few hours later she was jolted from her semi-sleeping state by the gate alarm. She rose, peeling her eyes away from her computer screen, and stretched, noticing that it was about time for Nicola to arrive. Making her way across the bridge to the gate room, she smiled inquiringly at Chuck.

"SGC's ICD Ma'am. Looks like Lieutenant Ragen is arriving on schedule."

"Thank you Chuck," she said as she made her way to the balcony overlooking the gate room.

John was there waiting, with Teyla, Ronan, and Rodney off to the side. She watched the shimmer, realizing she was holding her breath. Why, she had no idea.

A moment later, a woman walked through, a large duffel slung across her back. She was beautiful, Elizabeth thought sinkingly, with short, curly black hair and a muscular form. She was probably only a little taller than Teyla, but obviously much more powerful, which was saying something. She wore green, army cargo pants, brown Sketcher-like shoes, a tight black t-shirt, and a black zip hoodie over top.

As she exited the gate, her thin face broke into a huge smile and she dropped her duffle, bounding to John and enveloping him in a hug. He returned without hesitation, a smile breaking onto his features. Elizabeth's face fell further. She had never seen him be so physical and open with anyone before.

They released each other a moment later and John planted a kiss on her cheek. Arm in arm they turned to the other three and John began introductions. Elizabeth turned away then, facing Chuck.

"Do we have any more dial-ins scheduled for today?"

He shook his head. "No Ma'am. No dial-ins or missions until tomorrow."

She nodded. "Good."

She made her way across the bridge to her office and shook her head, wishing for the umpteenth time she had a door. She sighed resignedly and sat down, dreading her meeting with the Colonel later that day. They were going over the mission schedule for next week. Hopefully, it wouldn't take long.

She took out her computer pad and idly started playing solitaire, her thoughts elsewhere.

"Workin' hard I see," came John's voice from the door. She jumped lightly and then smiled. He always knew when she wasn't working.

"Yes. I've got to take a break sometime." She looked over at him, observing his strong form displayed nicely through his black t-shirt. "Is it time for our meeting already?" she glanced down at her watch. John shook his head and walked to take a seat in front of her desk.

"No, I was just in the area, thought I'd stop by. Listen, we're all having game night, have fun, meet the family kinda thing tonight at 7 at Teylas. You should come." He sat back and looked at her as though waiting for her to pull out the "I need to catch up on reports" card. She looked at him sideways and pursed her lips.

"Well, I suppose I could spare an hour. How is your guest settling in?"

"Good, she's settling in good. She's only been here for an hour, but I think she's met most of the people on the expedition. She does talk a lot, that's for sure. My quarters won't be very quiet for the next couple weeks." He half smiled at her and his hazel eyes looked softly at her. Elizabeth, however, didn't see it. She could only think about the fact that Nicola was staying in the same quarters as him. _Well, that's what I get for being attracted to someone like John._

"Elizabeth? You okay?" John leaned forward in his chair and frowned at her.

"Yes," she said a little too quickly. "Just tired. Working on reports. Which is why I won't be staying late tonight. Now that I've caught up on reports, I need to catch up on sleep." She smiled at him but it was forced. She wondered if he could tell. John looked at her again and this time Elizabeth felt the depth of his stare. She cleared her throat.

"Well, shall we have our meeting now or wait half hour and then meet at the planned time?"

He leaned back again, deciding to let it go for now. "We can meet now… as long as you promise you'll come tonight."

She looked at him and cursed the man for his stubbornness. "All right, I promise. Now, what kind of missions are we looking at for next week?"

He smiled at her and then pulled out his computer. "Looks like the first on the list is a visit to the Menoans. That's a mission Nicola can come along on, if you'll allow it." He glanced up at her.

She frowned over at him. "John, she's not on active duty here. She may be a lieutenant but she's not cleared for off-world activity- not from Atlantis."

He frowned at her. " 'Lizabeth, part of her clearance here is being able to participate in missions off-world that are to peaceful peoples and have little chance of becoming combat situations." He glanced down at his computer and then held it up. "It's all in the e-mail."

Elizabeth glanced at it hurriedly and then looked away in embarrassment. It was the e-mail she had deleted. "Right! I remember now. Sorry for the confusion."

John looked at her piercingly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She smiled at him, this time in a real manner. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm just a little distracted today."

"All right, well if you ever need to talk you know my quarters are open, or in this case, a secluded table in the mess is open."

She smiled at him but internally grimaced. Normally she would have no problem talking to him but now, he was the last person she wanted to spend time alone with.

"All right, so adding Nicola to the list. Moving along?"

He nodded and started pressing buttons on his data pad.

OOOOO

"So John," Nicola said as they continued their run through the outer pier of the city. "When am I going to meet this Elizabeth?" She looked sideways at him briefly and then turned her face forward to the hallway they were running through, her dog tags jangling around her neck.

"You'll meet her tonight. You've only been here seven hours and she _is _the leader of the whole expedition. She's got things to do."

Nicola smiled at him. "Well, you're the military leader of the _whole_ expedition… and you've managed to make time for me."

"hum, luck of the draw… Not a lot going on right now… You came at a good time."

She ran forward and jumped over a metal, box-like thing, turning around to run backwards. "Well, I think she should make time to… meet her second-in-command's sister." She turned back around and they exited through a doorway onto the pier outside.

The air was temperate, cool but not too cold. There was a slight breeze and with it came the soft scent of salt-water. The sun was just getting low in the sky, painting it with pinks and purples.

"It's beautiful here," Nicola commented.

"Hm," John grunted in response.

"Elizabeth _does_ know I'm you sister… right?"

John glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah, it was all in the notice… they sent about your arrival. Why?"

She shrugged. "I don't know… I could see her feeling weird about me… if she didn't know I was related."

"Yeah… you're probably right… but, she's religious about mail…. I'm sure she knows." He thought for a moment. "Anyway, I said 'meet the family' today… and she didn't move a muscle."

"Well I guess she's just busy then. I'll just have to wait to meet her until tonight." She ran to the end of the pier and looked down at the water. Then she turned to John who was just running up behind her. An evil look crossed her features and she smiled.

"What?" he asked nervously.

"I'll race you back!" And with that she ran off back down the pier.

"But its three miles!" he called after her. When she didn't even slow down, he groaned and raced back towards the door.

OOOOO

The game night was in full swing when Elizabeth finally arrived. John's team was there, along with several other people from different departments around the city. Carson was currently in the act of miming something, his hands wide in front of him, looking like he was driving a monster truck. She entered and John beckoned that she sit next to him. She really didn't want to, but it was almost the only seat open, unless she wanted to stand.

She walked over to him and sat down. "Playing charades?" she asked quietly.

He gave her a boyish smile. "Yup. My favorite game. And Nicolas too."

She turned to watch the game progress. Carson was having a hard time getting the answer he was looking for. Finally someone called out, "Semi?" and Carson dropped his arms, a relieved expression on his face.

"Finally! I thought you'd never get it."

Rodney looked at him with an incredulous expression on his face. "Carson, semi's don't have steering wheels bigger than you! Your miming of a steering wheel was like three feet wide!"

"Oh shut it," came back his reply. "I'd like to see you do better!"

Rodney stood to his feet. "All right, my turn."

"What's a 'semi' anyway?" Ronan asked.

John shook his head and turned to Elizabeth again. "You should meet Nicola." He caught Nicola's eye and beckoned her over. She bounded lightly over and sat down in front of the pair.

"Elizabeth," he turned to her. "This is Nicola, my-

"Pleased to meet you," Elizabeth said as she cut him off, not wanting to know what she was to him. John looked a little taken aback but decided to let it go.

"So, you're a lieutenant in the army."

Nicola nodded, her black curls bobbing. "Yes, for five years now. Word is, I've got a promotion coming up but… we'll see."

Elizabeth smiled at her. "Congratulations."

"Yeah," John said as he sat back in his chair and draped an arm over the back of Elizabeth's chair, "I'm pretty proud of her. She's been doin' well." He smiled at her and his hazel eyes were warm. Nicola smiled back.

Elizabeth cleared her throat and leaned forward. "So, where are you stationed right now? Or is that classified information?"

Nicola smiled over at her and pulled her legs up into a close crossed position. "Well, it is, but I know you have almost the highest clearance known to man. Even so, not knowing what you can and can't know, I can't say much. But, I can tell you that change is in the air. Especially now that I finally got clearance to visit this place. This is a whole 'nother galaxy of possibilities."

"Nicola," someone called from across the room. "Come give this a try."

She turned and smiled, getting up easily. "Looks like its my turn!" She made her way to the other side of the room to begin. John's eyes followed her and then turned to look at Elizabeth. She leaned back in her chair again, looking sideways at John.

"She seems nice. I'm glad you'll have some company for the next couple weeks."

"Yeah," he said. "She's great." He removed his arm from behind her chair and leaned forward, planting his elbows on his knees and looking at her sideways. "But, a couple weeks is a long time. I think I'll continue to want company from other people also." He looked at her pointedly but she avoided his gaze, watching Nicola mime what she thought was a penguin.

"Well," she said after a moment of watching, "I think I should go. It's been a long day and I need to get some sleep."

John sat up straight. "You've barely been here ten minutes. At least take a turn in the game."

"No, I think not. We've got an early start tomorrow, meeting the Adalians, remember? I'll need all my wits for that negotiation. I'll see you in the morning." With that, Elizabeth rose and John rose with her, seeing her out the door.

As she walked through the dark halls, thoughts scrambled through her head.

_She seems so nice, she seems perfect for John- a girl who can hold her own but still rely on other people. She certainly has a bouncy enough personality to keep John busy… and to get him out of his shell. Uck, I could never do that for him. I'm not like that at all. Why am I even thinking about this? They're obviously happy and it would be low of me to hold that against him. After all, we've known each other for four years now. I know when he's happy and when he's not. And, well… I've never seen him this happy or open before… Why has he never talked about her before now? Uh… this just doesn't make sense. I've negotiated peace treaties between dozens of hostile nations and I still feel like a panda bear without bamboo when it comes to John… and probably men in general… What am I even thinking? He's the military commander of Atlantis. He doesn't even look at me that way. Sure we've grown close but, I don't think he even really knows I'm a woman… anyway, there's the whole issue of me being his boss… Since when have I been this irrational?_

With these thoughts, it was very late before sleep finally descended upon her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Early the next morning, Elizabeth met John and a team of marines in the ready room. She was just donning her vest at John walked in, looking bleary eyed and sleepy. _Probably up half the night with Nicola_, Elizabeth thought. John walked to where she was standing and grabbed a vest.

"Long night?" she asked lightly. He grunted.

"Yeah, well, the party didn't die down until about 0200 and the Nicola talked my ear off for the next two hours so, well, it wasn't a sleep filled night."

Elizabeth looked at him sternly. "Are you fit for the mission? I want you with me but I don't want you to be a liability. These guys are going to be tough."

"No, no, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Here," he said and reached out to help her with her vest, tightening the straps so it fit properly. "You leaving Teyla in charge?"

"Yes. She'll do a fine job. I'm not worried. What's Nicola going to be up to while you're gone?"

He shrugged as he grabbed a P-90 from the rack. "Probably sparing with Ronan would be my guess."

Elizabeth smiled slightly at that, the image amusing. John caught her smile as they started making their way to the gate room and said, "Yeah, should be an interesting fight. She had difficulty finding challenging opponents back on Earth. I have a feeling Ronan's gonna give her a run for her money though."

Elizabeth smiled again, a little wider. Maybe it was okay that John had found someone. It seemed that she and John's relationship had not changed. Perhaps it would stay that way. In any case, she had no choice.

At that thought, the smile slid of her face a little more quickly than it should have. John asked,

"Hey, everything okay?"

She took a deep breath and smiled at him. "Oh, yes, just thinking about the negotiations and how much fun they'll be."

John laughed his rasping laugh. "I'm just glad _you're _the negotiator and not me."

"Yes, well, you just make sure you do _your _job. I'm counting on you to protect me from all the overbearing men."

He laughed but there was a jealous twinkle in his eye. The last time they had visited this world, many of the men had tried to claim Elizabeth as their own. Her redish hair had caused quite a stir, as everyone on that particular world was blond, and red was seen as the color of the gods. John had to assert that she was their tribe's leader and couldn't be claimed.

"Well, hopefully the leader thing did the trick."

She raised her eyebrows and said, "Hm," as they entered the gate room. The gate was dialed and waiting with team 2 waiting next to it.

"Ma'am," Major Loren nodded to her as she approached the gate. "It looks like we're all set. Ready when you are."

She nodded. "Let's go."

A moment later, they had exited the gate onto a metal platform. Elizabeth shivered.

"No matter how many times we visit this world, I will still be creeped out by their method of gate protection."

Next to her, John raised his eyebrows and looked cautiously over the side of the platform. It fell over a thousand feet. The Andalian's had moved their gate to a metal platform situated over their deepest canyon. Their world sported gigantically tall mountains and hugely deep crevices, so finding one so deep had not been an issue. The platform was attached on all four corners with chains made from a metal-like alloy that stretched to the top of the crevice and were attached to the ground. The alloy itself was much stronger than metal and was of a composition that Rodney had never seen before. It had the ability to hold up the many ton weight of the gate. Though the set-up was not entirely effective in guarding against ship attacks, it did take a skilled pilot to maneuver an air craft immediately up and out of the canyon. More often than not, ships found themselves a black mark on the canyon wall.

Elizabeth waved to the group standing on the far side of the canyon. They raised their hands in response and a platform began stretching out to meet them. Soon enough, they were safely on solid ground and greeting the delegation sent to meet them.

"Haiyo!" said Talana, the leader of their people. His long blond hair was tied in a braid down his back, a long dark fur adorned his body.

Elizabeth bowed her head in response. "Haiyo, Talana. It is good to see you again." As she spoke her breath puffed from her mouth in clouds.

Talana gestured to the side. "It is chill. Let us speak together within the comfort and warmth of the caves."

Elizabeth smiled and nodded, indicating that he should lead the way.

He led them a short walk away from the canyon and they came to a spot, well hidden in the trees. Talana uncovered a metal disk and knocked in code, requesting entrance. The disk soon opened up and Talana gestured that they should enter.

John entered first, down carved stone steps and emerging in a grey stone hall that were, despite this people's technological ability, lit with torches. It reminded him of a movie he'd seen about King Arthur.

The rest followed quickly behind and Talana led the way. They were led through many tunnels, past entrances to other caves small and large. They went through a huge cavern that was bustling with people who stopped to watch their progress. Finally, they came to a room that was guarded and sealed with a metal door. They entered into a large and beautifully decorated room that opened up to the canyon. The openings were sealed with a glass-like substance but it afforded a breath-taking view of the other wall and the thousand foot drop to the bottom.

"This is quite an impressive view Talana," Elizabeth commented. He smiled at her and looked prideful.

"Yes, it is. It is one of the few rooms at the front we have been able to seal well and use year-round." He turned to her. "Hence, it is my room. And my families." He gestured to the seats that were draped in animal fur. "Shall we begin?"

Elizabeth nodded and moved to sit down on a fur draped chair. The marines stood around the room and John took up a position close behind her. Talana sat across from her and offered her a drink from the pot on the table between them. Elizabeth accepted.

"You know," began Talana, "It was not necessary for you to bring so many of your people. We will not harm you."

Elizabeth smiled. "Yes, so you tell us. But, we are a cautious people as are you. You can understand we wish to get to know you before we trust you so readily."

Talana bowed his head low. "Of course." He raised his face and looked at her, his expression slightly feral, his severe features not helping the matter. "Shall we begin?"

OOOOO

Several hours later, Talana called for some food to be brought and they all ate together a collection of meats and grains. The food was quite good and everyone felt better and more relaxed.

"Dr. Weir," Talana said when they had finished. "Would you join me in the privacy of the next room?"

Elizabeth contemplated for a moment and then nodded. "Lead the way."

John started to follow them but Elizabeth held up her hand. "Don't worry John. I'll be fine. Come and get me if I'm not back in…?" She looked to Talana for an answer.

"Perhaps one circle on your time keepers?" Elizabeth nodded.

"One hour."

John walked to her and took her arm with a firm hand, looking into her eyes. "Elizabeth, we don't know these people. I don't trust them with you. They could do any number of things that would put you in danger and even Atlantis in danger. This isn't a good idea."

Elizabeth looked into his dark eyes and let out a breath. The concern in them made her warm inside, but then she remembered Nicola.

"John," she said firmly, "I'll be fine. I have my radio and my gun and you'll be right next door. The medicines we're trading for are too important not to take a chance on."

John still looked like he thought this was the worst idea in the world but he let go of her arm. "Be careful."

She nodded and turned to follow Talana.

They entered a small room off the side of the large one they'd just been in. He shut the door behind her and she heard it lock. She turned to him with fire in her eyes. He smiled and anticipated her words.

"Just so we won't be disturbed. It's an easy lock to break through, in any case. Don't worry." He walked past her and disappeared behind a wall of wooden panels. Elizabeth glanced around the small room. There was a fireplace on the far wall and another large window looking out on the canyon opposite the fireplace. There was one couch-like seat and a couple chairs with a table and some fur adornments on the walls.

A moment later, Talana reappeared and smiled at her. Elizabeth smiled and looked into his bright blue eyes, suddenly feeling very strange. She felt like she couldn't focus, like the room was spinning around her, and all she could see were his blue eyes. Her brain felt fuzzy and muddled and then, a second later, it was over and she was back to being clear headed.

She looked at Talana who was smiling at her and she smiled back, thinking he was quite handsome. He walked to her and reached a hand out to touch her red hair.

"Now you, child of the gods, will be mine."

She smiled at his face, so close to her own. "I think… I would like that," she said haltingly. He smiled at her and brushed her lips with his.

"And so will… Atlantis," he breathed to her as he started to make his way down her neck. She relaxed into him, sighing as she felt his mouth on her neck, going lower. He continued to kiss her for a long moment and then murmured,

"Tell me, my love, what is the code for the gate at Atlantis?"

She cleared her throat and fluttered her eyes open, trying to clear away the mist that seemed to have wrapped her head. "Um… the code? For the gate?"

"hm…" he murmured as he moved his way down her jaw, towards her mouth. Elizabeth allowed her heavy eyelids to close once again, feeling fire licking her skin where he touched her.

"My sweet?" He pulled her closer with one arm around her waist and started running his hand through her red hair with the other. His lips grazed hers lightly and she felt fire explode inside her body. "The codes?"

Elizabeth was barely listening to what he was saying. She ran a hand up his arm to tangle itself in his hair and then kissed him deeply. He kissed her back, passionately, and quickly moved to press her against the nearest wall. She felt his body flush against her and let out a moan that was rather too loud. There was a knock at the door.

"Elizabeth?" It was John's voice. " 'Lizabeth? Everything all right in there?"

She opened her dazed eyes and tried to focus them, pulling away. "Everything's fine." Her reply came out more of a croak than anything.

"You sure? You sound a little strange."

Talana pressed his body close to her, biting her ear gently.

"I'm fine, really," came her belated reply.

Talana pulled back and met her eyes with his blue ones. "The codes?"

"The codes… right." She blew out a breath, turning him around so she was pressing him against the wall. "I don't want to think about codes right now, I just want you." She quickly began kissing him again.

OOOOO

Outside, John was pacing in front of the door. Major Loren stood against the wall, watching him, his hands resting on his P90.

"I'm sure she's fine Colonel. It's only been ten minutes. What's the worst that could happen?"

John stopped his pacing, letting out a sigh. "Yeah, you're prob'ly right. It's just… not a good tactical situation, that's all." He sighed again and was about to go look out the window when another loud moan came from the room. He quickly reversed directions and began pounding on the door.

"All right Talana, that's it, time's up. Elizabeth? What's going on in there?" There was no reply. He waited a moment longer and then motioned two other marines to help him with the door. They had it open within seconds and John spilled into the room, P90 at the ready.

What he saw before him shocked him.

Elizabeth was pressed, back against the wall, her curls hanging loosely around her face and Talana's body pressed full against hers, one hand wrapped in her hair. It took John a moment to take in the scene before him, but when he did he felt fire rising in his chest.

"What the hell to you think you're doing?" he asked as he made his way quickly to them, reaching out and pulling Talana roughly away from Elizabeth. Before Talana had a chance to think, John had him pinned against the wall, his knife held firmly to Talana's throat.

"If you _ever_ touch her that way again, I won't _hesitate _to make you pay."

"On the contrary Colonel, Dr. Weir was only too happy to oblige."

John's grip did not loosen but his eyes strayed to the side, searching for Dr. Weir's eyes. When he found them, he was surprised at their glaring intensity.

"Release him now Colonel," Dr. Weir glared daggers at him. "I had everything perfectly under control."

John released Talana, more out of surprise than anything else. He approached Elizabeth cautiously. "Elizabeth, this man, who you've only talked to three times I might add, was just making out with you like you were his girlfriend."

Elizabeth's expression remained unchanged. "I know." She watched John's expression turn from outrage to incredulous. He was about to speak but Elizabeth beat him to it.

"Don't you dare give me that, Colonel. You can put on the Kirk routine but I have to remain chaste? How is that fair?"

John's eyes widened in disbelief. "You're telling me that you were engaging with him willing?"

"Yes." Elizabeth raised her eyebrows, as though asking John to challenge her. "Is that so hard to believe?"

For a moment John and Elizabeth stood looking at each other and finally John came to a decision. "Fine, you can kiss who you want but _not _while on a diplomatic mission, especially when you're supposed to be the one doing the negotiating." He turned to Talana. "I'm sorry about the misunderstanding but we're leaving."

With that he turned and motioned the marines out. Taking Elizabeth roughly by the elbow, he dragged her along with him out the door. Talana followed quickly behind.

"But Colonel, we have not finished our negotiating. There are still many things to be-

"You know Talana, when you seduced the leader of our people, that's when you kinda lost your playing hand."

"Colonel," Dr. Weir bit out. "You have no right to force me back to Atlantis, not when there are still negotiations to be made."

"You know Elizabeth, maybe you're right." He turned back to Talana. "I'll be sending another team to finish the negotiations."

He turned again on his heel, pulling Elizabeth with him. "You, on the other hand, I have every right to force back to Atlantis. As standing military commander, I recognize you as having been compromised and as such have taken appropriate action to make sure you can get your head on straight again."

To his surprise, Dr. Weir came relatively willingly, though she was in no short supply of words to tell him how she felt about it. By the time they reached the stargate, he was feeling deep remorse that she wasn't part of the military and as such he couldn't confine her to her quarters. He, of course, was unwilling to admit to himself the real reason for his anger.

As they walked through the gate, Elizabeth was still talking his ear off. Teyla was there to greet them and when she asked how the mission went, Elizabeth completely ignored her, continuing to protest John's actions.

"Elizabeth," John said sharply, cutting her off, "Your office, now." She shot daggers at him with her eyes but went anyway.

John turned to Teyla. "I'll debrief you in an hour. I have to deal with this first. There's lots to tell," he said sarcastically. Teyla only nodded and looked concernedly after them.

John took the stairs two at a time, passing the command center without a second glance. As he entered the office, Elizabeth rounded on him.

"What the hell do you think you were doing? I am an adult and I can take care of myself. If I want to have a fling with an alien then it's no concern of yours."

"I beg to differ," he said. "You are the leader of this expedition and as such are held to a certain code of honor."

"Oh, so I'm held to a code of honor that you're not?"

"No, I didn't say that." He took a breath, pressing his lips together. "If you were on leave or down time that would be different. But, as it is, you were supposed to be negotiating a treaty between our peoples. You can't just decide you like the leader and go after him, that's not how it works-

"As I recall, you went after a certain 'leader' when you were supposed to be negotiating with her!"

"Elizabeth," his voice had raised almost to shouting now. "You are our expedition _leader_. You can't do these kinds of things, and you know it-

"I'm not the only leader around here, John," she said, matching his tone, "you're held to the same set of rules."

"I'm not the one who has been breaking them!"

People in the command center were trying to tune them out but it proved difficult, as they voices rose in volume.

"Don't even try!" Elizabeth jabbed back. "You've been with too many alien women to count since we got here. I don't see you holding yourself to a 'code of honor'."

John felt his anger growing and he unclipped his P90, slamming it down on her desk. "Let me tell you a thing or two you may not realize" he began and that's when they both started shouting.

"I can kiss whoever I want…"

"…you can't go sleeping around…"

"You're not my father!"

"Act like a leader!"

"You act like a leader!"

"I haven't slept with nearly as many women as you seem to think…"

"Oh really, try me!"

"Maybe you're unfit to be our leader!"

In hindsight, John could see they were arguing like hormonal teenagers, but, at the time, it had seemed completely justified. The people in the control room were just discussing who should go in to break it up when Dr. Weir fell.

John had just begun to reply with another verbal jab when Dr. Weir's eyes rolled back into her head and her body went limp. John lunged forward to catch her before she hit the ground and quickly radioed Becket. His anger, though still very strong, was dissipating quickly. If she had been drugged, all her strange behavior would have a rational explanation.

He lowered her carefully to the floor, pushing a curl out of her face. Her pulse seemed much more rapid than normal. A moment later, Beckett entered the room.

"What's happened to her, Colonel?" he asked as he bent down to take her vitals.

"Don't look at me. One minute she was standing up, yelling at me and the next she was on the ground."

"All right, there's no need to shout." Beckett gave him a questioning look and then returned his attention to Elizabeth.

John's anger still fresh, he let out a breath. "Sorry doc, I'm just a little… pissed that's all."

A moment later, Rodney came running into the office. "Hey, what's going on?"

"What does it look like's going on, Rodney," John said impatiently as he stood, "Elizabeth's not _feeling_ well."

Rodney raised his hands and backed a step away. "All right, I was just asking."

John sighed again and rubbed his face. "Look doc, if you don't need me, I'm going to put my gear away… let off a little steam. Call me if anything changes."

"Will do Colonel," Carson replied without looking up.

OOOOO

Ten minutes later, John had put away his gear and made his way to the gym, finding Ronan and Teyla sparing while Nicola looked on. She saw him enter the gym and made her way over.

"What's happening big bro?" she smiled up at him, her green eyes sparkling. The minute their eyes connected, she could tell something was wrong.

"Hey," she said as she laid a soft hand on his crossed arms. "You okay?"

"Fine," John said shortly. "I just need to let off a little steam. The mission didn't exactly go as planned."

Nicola raised her eyebrows in understanding. "Yeah, I know how that goes… you want to spar?"

"I think I'll see if Ronan is up to it."

After a moment, Ronan had Teyla on the floor. John picked up a pair of sticks from the sidelines and made his way to the middle.

"Mind if I cut in?" he asked Teyla. She smiled and bowed her head slightly.

"Of course, Colonel."

As they began to circle each other, John looked Ronan in the eyes. "I have to warn you, I'm in a pretty sucky mood today."

Ronan shrugged. "I'm not too worried… hasn't helped you much in the past."

John kept his next comment to himself and made the first lunge. Ronan matched it easily and pushed the stick away as he brought his right stick forward to hit John's shins. John quickly moved his right stick down to meet the blow before it hit and pushed it away to the left, pulling the stick quickly back to hit Ronan's legs. However, Ronan was too fast for him and had his left stick down to parry before John had a chance. As he did, Ronan took his right stick up and down, aiming for John's shoulder and John quickly pulled his right stick high to block. Ronan used his brute strength to push John back, his arm slowly giving under the pressure from Ronan's stick. After a moment, John realized he couldn't hold him back and jumped quickly to the side, Ronan's body flailing forward. He rounded quickly around to keep himself from falling. John pressed his attack, going for Ronan's shoulder first, a blow which Ronan parried nicely, and then using his other stick to hit the back of his already bent knees. Ronan went down to his knees and John quickly used his other stick to hit his stomach, causing Ronan's body to bend forward involuntarily. John quickly pressed one stick lightly to his neck and the other to an arm, holding the other arm down with his foot. After a moment, he released Ronan and stepped back.

Ronan got up quickly and nodded to John.

"Good job. That's three times you've beaten me now?"

John rolled his eyes. Just as he was about to reply, Teyla came up to him and held out his radio to him.

"Dr. Beckett would like to speak with you."

John quickly took the radio from her and turned aside. "Doc? What's goin' on?"

"Well Colonel, if you're feeling better it might be best if you came down to see for yourself."

"Is she all right?"

There was a pause. "Well no she's not all right son… but I think she will be."

"All right, be there in five."

With that, John made his way quickly out of the door. Teyla, Ronan, and Nicola followed closely on his heels.

"Colonel," Teyla began, "has something happened to Dr. Weir? She seemed well enough when you arrived."

"Yeah, she did," he said without moving his eyes from before him. "But, she collapsed in her office a few minutes later."

Nicola quickly matched pace with John's other side. "Elizabeth is in the infirmary?"

"Yeah," he said glancing quickly at her. "Doc says she'll be all right but I'm goin' now to see how she is."

OOOOO

They arrived in the infirmary five minutes later, John leading the way. Elizabeth was stretched out on a bed, hooked up to a monitor that was beeping steadily. She appeared to be asleep or still unconscious, John wasn't sure which.

"Doc," John asked as he approached her bed. "What's goin' on?"

Carson smiled tightly at him and was about to speak but Rodney, who was standing next to him, beat him to it.

"Drugged. She was drugged. Had some weird substance in her system that appeared to increase her sex drive and her aggression." Rodney looked expectantly at John.

"Not only that Colonel," Carson continued, "but it appears to allow the giver of the substance a certain amount of control over the subject, in this case over Elizabeth."

John frowned and looked at Carson. "You're saying she was under some sort of mind control?"

Carson nodded. "Yes. It would appear that way."

"That would sure explain a lot," John muttered. "So, will she be all right?"

Carson nodded confidently. "Yes. The substance appears to be breaking down in her system. She fainted because her body is going through withdrawal from the substance. But, I have every confidence that once her body finishes breaking it down, she'll make a full recovery."

John nodded again and tried to conceal the anger he was feeling. This was all Talana's doing. This was why Elizabeth was acting so out of character. Why he hadn't been able to see that was beyond him. He looked down at her soft face, her hair spilled out on the pillow below her head.

"Do you know who might have done this John?" Teyla asked, placing a light hand on his arm.

"Yeah, I have a pretty good idea. And believe me, he's gonna hear about it."

"Do you think that's wise Colonel?" Carson asked quickly. "He managed to exhibit a remarkable amount of mind control over a very strong minded person. Do you really think you'll be able to resist if he tries the same trick on you?"

John looked at Carson with hard eyes and then sighed. "No, you're right. The best thing would probably be to lock the world out of our database. That kind of mind control is dangerous… Inform me the minute she wakes up."

Carson nodded as John began to leave. "Will do Colonel."

He had almost made it to the door when Carson called back to him.

"Wait, I think she's waking up."

John made his way quickly back to Elizabeth's bed where his team and sister were still gathered around. Elizabeth's eyes fluttered and she made a small noise. Then her eyes were open and green irises were looking at him, confused.

"John?" She asked tentatively. "Where am I? What happened?"

John sat lightly on the edge of the bed. "Infirmary. Do you remember anything?"

She squinted and hummed in an attempt to clear her voice. "I remember leaving on the mission… and I remember Talana. Then, something happened with him but…" she grunted in frustration. "I can't remember what. And then," she turned her eyes to lock with John's. "I remember you. I remember shouting and being horribly angry but… I don't remember why."

John grimaced. He had been hoping she had forgotten that too. Teyla came around to her other side and grasped her hand.

"We are all glad you are all right. We all have work to do so, we will leave John to fill in the details." Teyla smiled at John, a knowing look in her eyes. Ronan followed Teyla out the door and Nicola brought up the rear.

"We'll leave you to it then," Carson said, "just don't keep her up too long. She needs to rest." With that he pulled Rodney along with him and they were left alone.

Elizabeth gave him a questioning look. "What is it? Why is everyone acting so strange?"

John took a deep breath and explained to her what had happened on the world. "…so, I barged in and we came back to Atlantis and proceeded to have probably one of the biggest shouting matches we've ever had." He paused awkwardly for a moment. "I hear the control room was about ready to draw straws to see who should come in and break it up."

That garnered a short laugh from Elizabeth but then her face went back into a frown. She sat still for a moment and John could see that she was thinking. She met eyes with John's hazel ones, her expression carefully guarded.

"I'm surprised you think I would do something like that, John. Putting my personal needs ahead of my duties. It's not like me."

John clenched his jaw. "I know. It's not like you and I should have seen through it."

She held his eyes fast. "And yet, you didn't."

"No, I didn't." They looked at each other for a moment longer and then John looked away.

"Look, Elizabeth… I'm…" he sighed and turned back to look at her again. "I'm sorry."

The words were foreign to his lips but the urge to say them had never been so strong.

"Thank you," Elizabeth said after a moment. "But John," She looked at him hard. "I need to know that I can trust you. And with most things, that has never been and will never be an issue. But, I thought you knew me better than this. I thought that you, of all people, would have been able to see through those actions, see that they weren't in my character."

Elizabeth's hurt expression cut him to the core. She had come to be one of his closest friends and he knew full well he should have been able to see through her actions. But, he had been so consumed by jealous rage he hadn't been thinking straight.

"I'm sorry Elizabeth," he said again. "I should have known."

She looked at him for a moment and then sighed. "I said things too that I didn't mean. The more I think about the argument, the more I remember." She pressed her lips together, steeling herself. "Who you sleep with or date is no concern of mine and I'm sorry I made it sound like it was. My only concern is that you continue to do your duty well and in that area, you excel… I just hope that next time, you're able to recognize my character for what it is."

John pressed his lips together and sighed through his nose. "Me too." They looked at each other for a moment and then John cleared his throat. "Well, do you want anything? I hear the mess hall has spaghetti tonight."

She smiled and a little sparkle came to her eyes. "No, it's all right. I'll just have Carson bring me something. Besides, Nicola is probably waiting for your company."

"Hm, that's true," he said as he rose. "We're having another game night tonight." A mischievous smile came to his face. "We could have it here. Then you would have no choice but to join in!"

Elizabeth gave him one of her classic frowns. "No, I think not. Besides, Carson would never allow it."

John shrugged in consent. "Yeah, you're prob'ly right. But, it's the thought that counts right?"

Elizabeth just laughed and shook her head. That man was probably going to be the death of her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A couple days passed and Elizabeth was out of the infirmary, the substance completely broken down in her body. It was late and only the night crew was left in the control room. Elizabeth had stopped at the mess to grab some coffee and was about to enter her office but decided to make a detour to the balcony.

The night was breezy but warm, the salt air fresh. One large moon shone down on the city and thousands of stars twinkled from the crisp blackness above. She sighed, glad to be away from the infirmary. Sipping her coffee, she made her way to the edge and leaned on the railing, watching the steam rise in curls from her cup. Though she loved the ocean and the sound of the water, she always missed the sound of birds when she went outside.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" John's voice came from behind her. She smiled and turned.

"You sound like Carson."

He pushed off the wall he was leaning on and came to stand next to her. "Well, he's right."

She shook her head as she turned around. "No, I've had enough sleeping for a while. The infirmary will do that to you."

John raised his eyebrows in agreement. "Don't I know it."

Elizabeth sipped her coffee. "What about you? You're up late."

"Yeah, game night's at my place tonight." He looked at her. "Came to see if you want to join but, I think I'll join you instead."

He leaned on the railing with her, their elbows touching ever so slightly. Elizabeth pretended not to notice. John looked out at the stars. He knew he probably should be standing quite so close to Elizabeth as he was, but she didn't seem to mind. He smiled.

"I see my favorite constellation." He waited, wondering if she would know which one he meant. He shouldn't have worried.

"Ah of course, the infamous Tony Hawk constellation."

He smiled to himself. They had started a game long ago of making up constellations. Tony Hawk had been one of the first. John had had to explain who Tony Hawk was to Elizabeth, which in itself was quite enjoyable. It had remained both of their favorite constellations, if only for the memories it brought up.

They stood quiet, searching for new pictures.

"Ah!" John said as he found another good one. He was infinitely better at this game than Elizabeth. While he had found ten clear and memorable constellations, Elizabeth had only found three.

Elizabeth turned a green eye on him. "Find another one?"

"Yup," he said, proud of himself. "Look there." He pointed to the horizon as Elizabeth put down her cup and moved in front of him. She stretched her arm out, finger pointing, and John rested his hands gently on her shoulders, garnering a shiver from Elizabeth that did not go unnoticed. He guided her arm with his hand and his line of sight so that it was pointing at the star he wanted.

"You see that star?" His voice came softly, close to her ear. Elizabeth nodded, trying to ignore his proximity to her. He had a girl friend, after all. Besides which he was her second in command.

"There are lots of stars around it. You see the shape it makes with the bright stars?"

Elizabeth looked at it for a moment, and then smiled. Sometimes she wondered if John could read her mind. "It's a bird."

John smiled and let his hands fall to his sides, moving to stand beside her again. "Yup, it's a bird." He looked at her, his hazel eyes twinkling. "Now you can't say there aren't any birds here."

She smiled at him and picked up her coffee again. "I suppose you're right."

They stood for a long moment, just looked at the night sky. John turned towards her, looking at her searchingly.

"Hey, you okay?" Elizabeth's face had fallen and she looked deep in thought. She quickly tore her eyes from her thoughts and smiled.

"Yes, fine… Just thinking about work," she lied. "You should get back to your party. Nicola is probably waiting for you."

"Nah," John replied. "She's settling in well. Her and Ronan seem to be hitting it off pretty good. And Teyla has also been very friendly. She doesn't need me hangin' around all the time. Besides, I wanted to see how you were doing."

She smiled in appreciation but confused thoughts swirled in her head. She supposed if John still treated her the same, even though he had a girlfriend she should be grateful. But somehow, it just made her feel awkward.

"Well," she began, "Since I just spent three days in the infirmary I have catching up to do once again so I should probably get to it."

John gave her a tight smile but she knew he wasn't fooled. "All right. I'll see you tomorrow then. And don't work too hard all right? Everyone needs a break sometime."

She made her way to the door and then turned when she realized John wasn't following her. "Aren't you coming?" She asked.

He shook his head. "Naw. I think I'll stay out here a little while longer, see if I can find any more _brilliant_ constellations."

She smiled at that. "Don't stay up too late."

"Nah, but if I find another one you're going to have to come out and see it."

She smiled and shook her head. "Good night John."

" 'night Elizabeth."

After she left he stood there for a long time.

OOOOO

"Hey! Where you goin'?" Nicola called after Ronan, who was running quickly away.

"If you want it, you'll just have to come get it!" Ronan called and then continued to run in the opposite direction from her. Nicola smiled widely and began sprinting after him to catch up, kicking up sand as she did. Rodney and John, sitting a little ways down the beach, watched them with interest.

"You know," Rodney began, "I've never seen him smile so much."

John raised his eyebrows in agreement. "Yeah, I'm beginning to think I should have a little talk with him. She is my sister after all."

The team had all taken their day off on the mainland, deciding to use the hot weather to their advantage and go to the beach. Teyla had gone to be with her people while the four of them had opted to hang out on the beach. John had tried to get Elizabeth to come along, but again she had used the 'I'm too busy' excuse. He was beginning to think she was avoiding him on purpose. Rodney dug his toes into the sand a little deeper.

"Oh come on, Ronan's probably the best guy you could ask for. Better anyway than having her like some marine from Earth who you don't even know."

John had to concede the point. "True. But still, she is my sister."

"Hm," Rodney replied. "Oddly enough, I know what you mean."

John sighed and leaned back on his surf board, thinking about his conversation with Elizabeth earlier. He was about to get up and check out the waves when Rodney spoke.

"So, Elizabeth didn't want to come?"

John rolled his eyes. He tried not to, but it was almost unconscious. "Yeah, more work to do, she said." He almost said more, but stopped himself, realizing he was feeling bitter.

"Hm, she has been acting strange hasn't she?"

John grunted in agreement, looking out at the deep blue ocean, straining his eyes to catch a glimpse of Atlantis on the horizon.

"Hey," Rodney began as he sat up and turned towards John, "do you think maybe she doesn't know Nicola is your sister? I mean, I could see her feeling a little weird about that if she didn't know."

John grunted and rolled his eyes again. "Nicola asked me the same question right after she got here." He paused to consider for a moment. "No, I really don't think there's any way she could be confused about that. But… maybe I should talk to her just to be sure. It would certainly explain why she's been avoiding me. I mean, not that you can really avoid the person you work with every day but…" he grunted in frustration and got up, pulling his shirt off, his dog tags jangling.

"I'm gonna go see what the surf is like. You comin'?"

"What? Me surf? Are you kidding? Do you know how dangerous surfing is? I could get pulled out by an undertow, stung by jelly fish, eaten by a shark…"

John snorted. "Rodney, we don't even know if there are jelly fish or sharks here!"

"Yes well… better safe than sorry." He gave John his press mouthed, set face that told John he wasn't going anywhere.

"All right, your loss," John replied as he made his way down the beach towards the water.

OOOOO

A couple hundred meters down the beach, Nicola had just caught up to Ronan. They had been throwing a football back and forth when Ronan had decided to steal it and run. As she caught up to him, she tried to grab the ball from him, but could immediately see there was no use in trying that tactic. Then, remembering her football days (and of course her combat training), she hunkered down low and made a drive at his mid section, catching him squarely in the stomach with her shoulders and succeeding in catching him off guard. They both went down to the sand, landing hard. Nicola pushed herself up on one arm and quickly grabbed the ball.

"I win!" she called. Ronan was laughing.

"All right, all right, you win this round anyway. But I don't know if I would call that winning."

She gave him a playful frown. "Oh really. Well then what would be considered winning?"

"If you can _keep_ it away from me," he said, reaching over to try to grab the ball back. She held it close to her chest and quickly got up, running the short distance to the water. Ronan ran after her, pulling of his shirt as he did. They splashed in and as Nicola ran deeper, Ronan ducked under to grab her around the legs, succeeding in planting her face first into the water. They both emerged, laughing.

"I have water all up my nose," Nicola stated, pushing stray hair out of her face. Ronan smiled at her, observing her beautiful features and the way her hair got darker when it was wet. He held up the football and smiled.

"I win."

Nicola rolled her eyes at him. "Well, I guess you can win this one since I've succeeded in kicking your ass numerous times when sparing."

"Yeah, I thought we weren't going to talk about that again," he said jokingly.

"You wish!" The water was about to her mid section and with Ronan floating beside her, they were almost the same height. Ronan was looking at her intensely.

"What?" she asked, a little uncomfortable under his intense stare.

"You have seaweed in your hair." Without breaking eye contact, he reached up a hand to pluck a small piece of seaweed from her hair. She looked into his eyes, soft and wild at the same time, felt the breath catch in her throat as he moved closer. When he was centimeters away, he suddenly pulled back.

"Sorry… I shouldn't have done that." Nicola watched him carefully, confused by his actions. She decided not to press the matter… at least for now. She relaxed back into the water, floating next to him.

After a moment she asked, "Tell me about your home world. What was it like?"

She seemed to jump Ronan out of his thought. "Stateda? Um, what do you wanna know?"

She shrugged, a wave bobbing them both up and down. "I don't know. Is it similar to Earth?"

Ronan laughed a little. "No. Definitely not like Earth… It was nice. I lived in the city. One of the oceans was nearby, about an hour drive. Sometimes we'd go there for weekend trips."

She looked over at him as he paused. "We?"

A pained expression crossed his face. "Melaina, my partner. For all purposes, my wife."

Nicola looked away. That must have been his hesitation.

"She died," he continued, "when the wraith destroyed my world."

"I'm sorry," Nicola said as she turned to look at him. He smiled tightly and looked down at the water.

"It was a long time ago."

"Yes, but things like that take a long time to heal." She turned to look out at the horizon again. "I'm glad my brother found you… or I guess you found them."

This time he genuinely smiled, though it was a small smile. "Yeah. If it wasn't for them, I'd probably be dead."

She smiled at him again and then looked forward. "Well I for one am glad you're not."

He smiled to himself, thinking just how lucky he really was to be alive.

OOOOO

"So," John said as he entered Weir's office. "Is that address locked out of the database for good now?"

Elizabeth looked up from her computer screen and nodded. "Yes, for good! We need both my code and yours to unlock it. So, we should be safe."

"Hm, that's good," John said as he walked to her desk, planting himself on the corner. Elizabeth looked up at him, noticing the sunburn that was streaking his face and arms.

"Forget to pack sun screen?"

"No, just forgot to reapply." He crossed his arms. "If you had come with us, maybe we would have been spared the spit roasting. It was a beautiful day."

Weir smiled, unable to keep from noticing how the sun made John glow. "More likely I'd have been roasted right along with you."

"Nah," he said as he moved from her desk to sit in the chair, "you would have been the responsible one and remembered." He smiled at her for a moment but she looked away quickly.

"So…missions to talk about?"

Elizabeth nodded, pulling up the schedule for the next week. "Yes. Only a couple this week. And it looks like there's one that Nicola has been invited to join in on."

John nodded. "Great. Um… about her, there's something I want to talk to you about."

Elizabeth tensed for a moment, not really wanting to talk about her with John of all people. "Look John, can we not talk about her right now? I really need to get this done and I have some other work that I'd like to finish before dinner."

John raised his eyebrows in surprise. "All right. As long as you promise to come with me to the shooting range tonight."

She sighed. She really didn't want to but she knew she'd been avoiding him too much and she really did miss him. It's just, every time she was with him she couldn't stop thinking about Nicola, which tended to make things awkward. John thought she was going to refuse but she surprised him.

"Okay, I'll go." She paused, looking at her list. "So… missions?"

John nodded. "Right."

OOOOO

Nicola padded down the hall, her green cargo pants making soft swishing noises as she did. Her curly hair was pulled back in a pony tail that bounced as she walked. She was almost to the dining hall when she ran into Ronan.

"Hey," she said when she saw him. "Going to eat?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Wanna eat together?"

Nicola smiled. "Sure."

They walked into the dining hall, which was fairly packed at this time of night.

"You forget your shoes?" Ronan asked curiously, noticing her bare feet.

Nicola laughed. "No. I just got horrible sunburn yesterday and I haven't been able to wear shoes since."

"Sucks," Ronan grunted shortly. They got their food and looked around for table. Eventually, they ended up outside at a small table overlooking the ocean. Ronan nodded to Weir as they passed her, eating alone a couple tables away.

"So," Nicola began as they sat down, a warm breeze swirling about them. "What's with her? I mean, don't tell anyone I said this, especially not John, but she seems really aloof. And, even though she was nice to me when I met her she just seems… unfriendly."

Ronan grunted as he started to eat his food. "Yeah, she's actually not usually like that. She must just have a lot to do."

Nicola thought for a moment as she ate, watching Weir as she read and ate at the same time. "I thought for the amount John talked about her she must be a really special girl. Or at least a nice girl… I don't know. I haven't really given her a fair chance since I've never really talked to her."

Ronan turned to look at Weir briefly and then turned back. "Well," he began, "she's by herself and it doesn't look like she's doing anything that interesting. You should go join her."

Nicola considered. "Yeah, maybe. But… I get a really weird vibe from her." She watched as John approached and sat down across from Weir. "Anyway, John just sat down with her so, I guess I'll just stay here." She looked over at him and smiled. "Not that I'm complaining."

"You could still go sit with them." Ronan continued to devour his food and Nicola had to smile.

"Yeah, maybe I will. As long as you won't feel left out." She smiled kiddingly at him.

He rolled his eyes and flicked a pea at her. "Go!"

OOOOO

A couple tables down, Elizabeth and John were having a strained conversation.

"So you're telling me you're avoiding me because you're busy?" John looked at her incredulously.

"No, not avoiding… just not seeking out." Elizabeth could see that she wasn't going to be able to continue reading her book so she marked the page and set it aside. "You have visitors and other people who want your attention. I don't want to sap it from those people."

John gave her a withering stare. "You mean Nicola? You know Elizabeth; I do enjoy your company as well. And I don't appreciate being avoided. Especially not because I have other visitors. Every time I seek you out, you say you're too b-

"Hey," Nicola said. "Mind if I join?"

John looked up at her and Nicola could tell she'd chosen a bad time.

"Um… or I can sit with Ronan again. That's fine too." Nicola was about to retreat when Weir spoke.

"No, please Nicola, feel free to join. I was just leaving anyway." She gave them both a tight smile and got up.

"Elizabeth," John said as he rose from his seat.

"It's all right John," she said as she held up a hand. "I'll see you soon anyway. Shooting range?"

John gave her a set stare and then nodded, sitting back down. Once she was gone, he sighed, putting his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry," Nicola quickly said. "I guess I shouldn't have come over. I just thought-

"It's okay." John waved away her apology. "Elizabeth had just been in a really strange mood ever since you got here. I'm sorry you have to see her like this."

Nicola relaxed a little at that. "I just wanted to get to know her better, have a chance to really talk to her."

"Yeah, I know." He rose, picking up his tray. "You go sit with Ronan. I'm not hungry. I'll see you later tonight okay?"

"oh, okay," Nicola replied. Thoroughly confused, she made her way back to Ronan's table.

OOOOO

A little while later, Ronan and Nicola were talking on a balcony two levels below the control room. Though it was close to the main hub of activity, it was a rarely used quarter of the city and Ronan often went there to think. They had wandered there after dinner on their walk through the city.

"This is my favorite balcony," Ronan said as he leaned against the railing, looking out at the far away ocean. The moon was bright tonight and cast a long reflection on the water.

"Certainly has a great view," Nicola commented as she stood next to him.

He smiled at her and then turned back out. "Yeah. It does." He thought for a moment. "So… you're here for two more weeks right?"

Nicola nodded, moonlight glinting off her green eyes.

"And… what do you do on Earth?"

She smiled. "Well, I'm in the military as you know, specializing in hand to hand combat. I was stationed in Germany but was recently informed about the stargate program. So, what will come of that I don't know. But, I have a feeling I'm going to be reassigned." She turned to look him in the eye. "No telling!"

He smiled slightly and shrugged. "No one to tell. And I'm not really a big talker."

"I hadn't noticed," Nicola replied with mock seriousness.

Ronan punched her lightly in the arm and then leaned on the rail again, turning his head towards her. "So… what does reassigned mean?"

Nicola shrugged. "I'm assuming something to do with the program. Probably, hopefully, I'll be assigned to the SGC and made part of an SG team. I think I would like that."

Ronan nodded, turning back to look at the sky. "Any boyfriends back home?" he asked casually.

Nicola looked at him and laughed. "No. There's not much opportunity for dating when the only people you know are in the military. Besides, I'm not too keen on being court marshaled."

Ronan grunted in response.

"You?" she asked, eyeing him. He shook his head.

"No. After I lost Melaina, I was a runner for years. Never really had a chance to mourn. When Atlantis found me, I was a mess. It took me a long time to realize what I'd lost… to mourn it. That wasn't so long ago. And… well, there hasn't been the right person since then." He turned around and leaned his back against the rail, looking at her, his expression intense. She met his stare with equal intensity. He began to lean towards her and she realized belatedly that he was going to kiss her; this time with certainty and forethought. She almost pulled back. After all, she knew very little of this man, beyond what John had told her. Though, he had been a kind and enjoyable companion these couple weeks and she couldn't deny that she was attracted to him. He reached out a hand to brush her face and looked at her for confirmation. After a moment she went up on her tip toes and brushed lips with his. His gentleness surprised her, his lips gently pressing into hers, his arms gently coming around her waist, never moving too high or too low. After a moment they broke apart and he rested his forehead to hers, a difficult feat because their height different was so great.

"So," Nicola began, "Isn't game night at your place tonight? Some Statedan game right? Is it getting to that time?"

He smiled at her and pulled away. "Yeah, we should probably head over." He took her hand as they made their way to the door.

"So, what's the game like?"

He shrugged, "dunno. Shepherd says it's like capture the flag… but better."

She laughed as they left the balcony.

OOOOO

Two floors up, Dr. Weir was standing on her balcony, sipping coffee and thinking about her conversation with John. She observed with interested Ronan and Nicola as they entered the balcony below. She often saw Ronan come to that balcony and always gave him privacy by migrating to the other side of her balcony. Tonight, however, she was interested in what they were doing. She knew she shouldn't, but she couldn't help watching.

When they appeared to just be talking, she turned to look out at the moon again, wondering what she was going to say to John today at the shooting range. She knew she was being unreasonable but she couldn't help feeling jilted. She supposed she would just have to tell John the truth and hope their relationship would not suffer because of it. After all, their relationship was already suffering.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed Ronan moving closer to Nicola and turned to watch, carefully keeping from being too obvious. Ronan reached out to touch Nicola's face and Weir's breath caught in her throat. _He wouldn't…_ Nicola leaned up and kissed him. They kissed for a moment, Ronan's hands coming around Nicola's waist, and then they broke apart, leaving the balcony shortly after.

Elizabeth stood in shocked silence for a long moment, thinking about what she'd just witnessed. She wouldn't have thought it of either of them. To cheat on John like that was beyond her. She didn't know about Nicola, but certainly Ronan wouldn't be so unfaithful of a friend to commit such an act. She shook her head, trying to decipher what she'd seen. But, there was no denying it. They had clearly just kissed and she had witnessed it.

_I guess I know what I'll be talking to John about at the shooting range…_ She sighed and left the balcony quickly, trying to decide how she was going to break the news.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Not long after, Elizabeth found John waiting for her at the shooting range. There were two other people there, two scientists who Elizabeth recognized as part of Rodney's department. One was beating the other rather badly.

Elizabeth smiled tightly at John as she entered the room. He handed her ear plugs and then walked over to the gun rack.

"You choose," he said looking at her.

She walked over, looking at the assortment of weapons. "Oh, why don't we just go with the old standby's?"

He nodded and grabbed two of the guns from the rack, handing one to Elizabeth. They made their way to the booths and John went first. As he shot, Elizabeth leaned against the wall and tried to talk to him, practically yelling to make herself heard.

"So, things going well between you and Nicola?"

John frowned and turned to look at her. "Yeah, why?"

She shrugged. "Just wondering." He took a few more shots as Elizabeth worked up the courage to ask him another question.

"So, what were you doing tonight before you came here?"

He let out a short laugh. "Actually, doing paperwork. Can you believe it?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Ah, finally far enough behind you thought you should catch up?"

"Something like that," he replied as he took another shot.

"So, what was Nicola up to?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. She was having dinner with Ronan when I left."

Weir frowned. "I thought she was eating with you?"

"Nah, after you left I decided I wasn't _hungry_ anymore and I left." If he'd been looking at her, she could tell his eyes would be shooting daggers her way. She sighed, but before she could speak John put down his gun.

"Your turn," he said, stepping aside to allow her forward. He assumed her position against the wall and watched as she took a couple shots.

"Pretty good," he replied in response to her shots. "But here…" He came up behind her and placed his hands on her arms, helping her feel the proper posture. She didn't resist his help but she did feel more tense to him than normal. "Now, line up your eyes… that's it." She took a shot and made it right on target.

After a moment she quickly turned around towards him and slammed her gun on the counter. She was surprised at their proximity and momentarily distracted, but she quickly backed away. Taking a deep breath she looked straight into John's confused eyes.

"John, there is something you should know. I, well… I was on the balcony by the control room just before I came here and I saw Ronan and Nicola together on the balcony below."

John frowned. "And…"

She sighed. "And, they kissed. I don't know how else to say it, but… there it is."

John's face went from confused to angry to set determination. Elizabeth knew enough of John to know she didn't want to be on his bad side and she felt slightly sorry for Ronan… but only slightly. She just hoped this wouldn't destroy her first team. She needed them.

"I'm sorry John," she began, "I can't imagine what Ronan was thinking. Having your girlfriend cheat on you with one of your best friends-

"Wait, what?" John asked, cutting her off.

She frowned at him. "What, what?"

"What did you call her?"

"Your girlfriend?" She said as she frowned.

Suddenly both of their radios crackled. They quickly pulled off their ear plugs.

"Dr. Weir, Colonel Sheppherd, we have an unscheduled off world activation. We think it's coming from the world with the mind controlling device."

Elizabeth touched her ear, glancing at John. "Thank you Chuck. We'll be right up." She raised her eyebrows at John. "Shall we?"

John sighed. "Yeah." His mind occupied with the city's safety, he promised himself he would talk to her about this whole mess soon. And Ronan would be first on the list after that…

OOOOO

"So," John asked as he arrived in the control room. "What's happening?"

"Well," Chuck responded, "we've been trying to determine where the signal is coming from but they're sending some sort of jamming through the gate."

"Yes yes," Rodney said from his seat at the consul. "They're definitely jamming us and at this point, there doesn't seem to be a way around it. The only thing is, I don't understand what they trying to do. They obviously have no way to get the shield down; otherwise they'd have done it already. And, there doesn't seem to be anything coming through the gate either."

"So, where does that leave us?" John asked as he approached Rodney and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well, I don't know, "Rodney said as he looked up from the screen. "I've run every sim I can think of to try to figure out if they're sending something through. But I haven't found anything yet."

"Well that doesn't make sense."

Rodney gave him one of his annoyed looks. "Yeah, obviously."

"Well," John continued, ignoring Rodney's comment. "If nothing's coming through and the shield is fine, it shouldn't be a problem right?"

Rodney snorted. "Theoretically. But somehow, if this is coming from our friends at the mind control city, I'm sure something's coming through, I just haven't figured out what it is yet."

John sighed, "All right. Well, keep me informed. I'm gonna go gear up just in case this gets more serious."

He had just turned to head down the stairs, calling for Teyla and Ronan to gear up when Rodney's exclamation stopped him.

"John wait! I figured out what's coming through."

John quickly turned to see Rodney's tense face.

"Carson?" Rodney called on his radio, "We need you in the gate room right away. Unknown pathogens are streaming through the gate."

"Pathogens?" John asked quickly. "You mean like viruses?"

"I don't know. I'm not an MD. But I do know that something biological is coming through that gate, and it's apparent it's airborn."

"How is it getting through the shield?" Elizabeth asked from Rodney's other side.

"That is a very good question," Rodney said. "Right now, I have no idea."

"Well, are we in danger? Should we quarantine the city? Get a hazmat team up here?" John asked.

"That would be-

He was interrupted by Carson's arrival in the control room. "What's the situation?" Carson asked.

Rodney motioned him over to the computer where he'd been working and showed him the readings.

"Oh my…" Carson breathed. "Colonel we need hazmat up here right away. Rodney, you need to figure out a way to disconnect the gate straight away. Mary," he said as he clicked his radio, "come to the control room as quick as ya can. We need an air sample and full analysis. And make sure you're in hazmat before you come."

"Understood."

"Colonel," he said as he turned to John. "I suggest full quarantine of the city." From the corner of his eye, Carson saw Rodney still standing, staring at him. "Rodney! Why'r you still standin' there? This isn't a joke! We've got no time to lose!"

"Right!" Rodney quickly turned and sat at his computer again, calling Zalenka on the radio. Elizabeth followed suit by addressing the city and informing them of the situation. John radioed Teyla and Ronan and told them to suite up and bring along some extra weapons.

Over the next ten minutes, as the city sprang into action, no one seemed to notice their spirits growing more relaxed, their minds wandering, their conversation not focusing on the task at hand.

Half an hour later, John was standing at the ready down the stairs from the gate, waiting to hear from Rodney and Carson on their progress. There were a couple marines on the other side of the gate room, talking amongst themselves, their guns laid next to them. John frowned at that. Being relaxed on a normal day was okay, but not when they were facing an invasion. He quickly made his way up the stairs and down the opposite set, walking over to their circle. A large laugh escaped them as he approached and he noticed a deck of cards being shared between them.

"What the hell is going on?" John asked angrily as he split up their conversation.

"Just having a little fun sir," one of the marines said as he began dealing out the cards again. "You want to join?" He looked up at John.

John stared back at him, a disbelieving expression on his face. "You know, I don't normally do this but the situation calls for it."

He hauled the marine up on his feet, the cards sliding everywhere. "The Brigg, now!"

The marine shook him off lightly. "Whoa, hey, we're just having a little fun. Lighten up!"

John's face contorted and he grabbed the man by his collar. "We are in a combat situation with a high possibility of invasion, and we're being attacked by an unknown substance coming through the gate. Don't _tell_ me to lighten up. Now go," he shoved him roughly towards the door. "And don't say anything else stupid that I can use against you at your court martial."

"All right, all right, I'm going."

John looked around at the rest of them. "Anyone else?"

They all sheepishly shook their heads at him.

"Good," he snapped. "Now get back to your posts and start acting like marines!"

He turned quickly and accompanied Meiers to the brig, frowning at the odd sights he saw along the way. He called Rodney as he was exiting the brig.

"Yup," Rodney's voice called from his radio.

"Hey, how's it coming?" John asked.

"How's what… Oh, right… um, it's coming. Just taking a little break."

"Rodney!" John's outraged voice called. "This is kind of important. It's not the kind of thing you can take a break from!"

"Oh, well, do you want to join me? Then we can start right back up-

"Rodney!"

"Right, okay, I'll get back to work."

John disconnected his radio without another word, shaking his head in disbelief. It was like people didn't understand how serious the situation was.

He was making his way back to the control room and he passed the gym. He glanced in as was his habit, to see who was there, and stopped dead in his tracks.

His sister was pinned against the opposite wall by Ronan's strong frame, his back to John, gun thrown aside, kissing Nicola heavily.

Dumfounded, John stood there for a moment, watching them, and then promptly turned away, thinking. Marines slacking off, Rodney being relaxed in a life or death situation, Ronan making out with his sister instead of defending Atlantis from invaders… Something was definitely going on. He considered for a moment what to do about his sister when a noise from the gym interrupted his thoughts.

"Ronan… Ronan!" John turned to see Nicola push him roughly away from her and look at him with an incredulous expression. "What do you think you're doing? We are in a combat situation, dealing with a potential alien invasion and you want to make out?" She sounded as confused as she was angry.

Ronan shrugged and leaned forward, apparently to kiss her again, but Nicola never gave him the chance. She slipped to the side and around, heading quickly for the door, which was when she noticed John.

Stopping in her tracks, her expression turned from anger to surprise to embarrassment.

"John…" she started. John waved her explanation aside.

"Don't worry about it Nic. Something is obviously going on. It must be the pathogen that's coming through the gate. For some reason, we seem to be immune to it."

Nicola raised her eyebrows and pressed her lips together. "Lucky us."

John snorted in reply, catching Ronan's eyes. "Well, I just hope the doc hasn't been affected otherwise we're gonna be in deep trouble." He paused and looked at Ronan sternly. "You comin?"

Ronan shrugged, picking up his gun. "I'll go wherever she's goin'."

John snorted and rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever makes you happy."

Nicola gave her brother a look and then turned to follow him at a jog down the hall towards Carson's lab.

They skidded to a halt in front of the door and John waved for it to open. When it did not, he activated his radio, calling for Carson. He answered a moment later, sounding wary.

"Colonel?" Carson's voice came from his ear piece.

"Carson! Are you in your lab?"

"Yes, John, I am. And I'm very busy."

"Well, I'm outside with Nicola and Ronan. Can you let me in?"

There was a pause and John could hear Carson's hesitation.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea Colonel. You see, I need to figure out how to neutralize this pathogen so we can save the base and you're just going to keep me from doing that."

He was talking to him like he was a child and John could instantly tell he hadn't been affected by the substance.

"Carson, I know something weird is going on to people on the base. I just put Meiers in the brig and caught Ronan making out with my sister. I'm not affected. Now let me in."

A moment later, the door unlocked and John opened it, moving quickly inside. Carson was ahead, sitting at a table, his equipment spread out in front of him. The door locked behind them.

"So Doc," John said as he approached the table, "what's going on?"

"Well Colonel…" Carson began but trailed off as his eyes turned to Ronan. He had an arm around his sisters midsection and was kissing her neck. Nicola proceeded to shove him off her roughly but he came right back.

"All right, that's it," John said, anger welling inside him even though he knew Ronan wasn't really in control of his actions. He reached and took Ronan's gun from him easily, setting it to stun and pointing it at Ronan. "You do that again and I'll shoot you."

From the tone of John's voice, Nicola could tell he wasn't kidding and apparently so could Ronan. He raised his hands and backed a few steps away.

"Now go and sit on that chair in the corner and stay there." John motioned to a chair with the gun.

"All right," Ronan replied as he backed up and sank sulkily into the chair. John turned back to Carson.

"So?" he asked, a little impatiently.

"Well Colonel, to be honest I haven't been able to figure out much yet. It's obvious this pathogen is related to the one that was present in Dr. Weir's system after her mind control incident. This one seems to lower people's inhibitions and stimulate endorphin secretion. It's more complicated than that and the point is, I haven't found a way to counter it yet."

John raised his eyebrows. "Well, at least that explains why everyone is asking to out of character."

"Well," Carson said, glancing at Ronan. "not out of character, just asking on impulses they already have and not worrying about the consequences."

John glanced at Nicola and she rolled her eyes at him. "Anyway," Nicola responded. "why do my brother and I and you seem to be immune?"

Carson shrugged. "Now that I know you two are also immune, I would guess it has to do with the ancient gene, since we all have it. But, of course, that would mean Rodney would be immune as well and he's definitely not."

"Had a run in with him?" John asked.

Carson let out a noise of annoyance. "I was tryin' to fix this problem and I radioed him for help and he seemed more concerned about eating than the imminent invasion of the city. He's usually so tense, that's when I knew there must be somethin' wrong."

John frowned and thought for a moment. "Carson, we three all have the gene naturally right? We were born with it. But Rodney was given it through vaccination. Do you think that could be the difference?"

Carson raised his eyebrows and thought for a moment. "It certainly could Colonel, and that difference might actually give me a very good starting point for creating a cure." He quickly got up, getting supplies for collecting blood.

"If you would, I just need a small sample of your blood Colonel, and you love. Then I'll get started."

"Sounds good Doc. And let me know if you need anything else."

OOOOO

A few hours later, the four of them were still locked in the lab, watching Carson work. Ronan had been good for most of that time, with only three attempted grabs for Nicola, which John easily suppressed with a wave of the stun gun. John was pacing back and forth in front of Carson's table.

"You know Colonel," Carson said with strained patience. "This is going to take some time. Perhaps you should scout the city, make sure everything is okay."

John turned to look at Carson and could see that he was distracting him. "Yeah, you're probably right. I'm not doing any good here." He turned towards the door. "Be back in an hour or so."

John exited the room, hearing the door lock behind him and a muffled "Ronan!" issue from the room. He smiled to himself and shook his head, jogging towards the gate room. Even though this was a serious situation, the behavior of people was rather amusing, when not annoying.

On his way to the gate room he passed the mess, a call issuing from the room. A moment later, Rodney came skidding into the hallway and flagged him down.

"Hey, John, do you want to catch a bite to eat? It's meatloaf day!"

John turned towards him. "You know Rodney, even though that sounds great, I've got a city to save so, if you'll excuse me…" He turned to go but Rodney grabbed his arm.

"Com'on, I've been alone in there for hours, it's boring! Just a quick bite?"

John turned again and rolled his eyes, letting out a short laugh. "so, I guess you like my company, good to know. Look Rodney, once we get out of this, I promise I'll eat meatloaf with you but until then, I gotta concentrate on fixing this problem. You just go in there and keep… doing whatever you were doing."

With that, he left a very sad looking Rodney standing next to the mess.

He made his way quickly to the gate room and found it almost completely deserted. There was one techy asleep on his consul but all other stations were abandoned. Looking around briefly, he could see that everything was in order, except, of course, the pathogens still streaming in through the gate. He was about to make his way back down the stairs when he noticed Elizabeth sitting in her office. Actually, she was sitting in her chair with her head on her desk, appearing to be asleep.

John quietly walked to her doorway and leaned against the door frame, tracing her beautiful features with his eyes. A red clump of hair across her face moved consistently with her breath and he smiled. It seemed right that the one thing Elizabeth would want to do was sleep. He thought about their earlier conversation about Nicola and shook his head at his stupidity. _I should have figured that out sooner. I know her better than that._ He knew she wouldn't stonewall him for no reason, he just wished he had figured out why sooner. Their lives had both been living hell, or at least living purgatory, since his sister had arrived. He turned to leave but his gun hit the wall and made a huge clang, garnering a surprised yell from Elizabeth and a groggy "John?"

She raised her head from the table as he turned back to look at her. He smiled his half smile.

"Sorry. I was trying not to wake you."

She waved away his apology with a hand and rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?"

John shrugged. "Probably about 1800. I was just making rounds, making sure everything is okay."

She got up to stretch and carefully began fixing her hair. "Was there something going on right now? Something about an unknown pathogen coming through the gate?"

John nodded. "Yeah, still working on that. Carson's workin' hard, I'm doing rounds, making sure everything is okay."

She turned towards him and he met her eyes, stiffening at the intensity in them. She smiled at him and started towards his side of the room. He kept a wary eye on her the whole time, not entirely sure what to expect. When she was a foot from him, she reached out a hand and traced a finger down his neck, moving to unzip his vest. He cleared his throat and moved a step away.

"Uh, Elizabeth, maybe I should go. I have rounds to do and you're obviously affected by this pathogen."

She smiled at him and moved forward, making him move onto the bridge in response. "What's the harm John? Carson will have this figured out in no time and then we'll all be back to normal. Why not enjoy our time off?" She turned and pushed him lightly against the rail, placing one hand on his chest and pulling his vest zipper down. He cleared his throat again and grasped her hand to stop her.

"Elizabeth, I'm flattered, really, but I have to make sure everything is okay in the city." He looked into her green eyes and felt his breath catch in his throat. He knew she would never do this if she wasn't infected with the pathogen. But what was it Carson had said? They were desires that were already present, people were just losing the inhibitions that kept them from acting on those desires. He looked into her eyes again and let out a breath. She reached up her other hand to trace down his neck. John clenched his jaw in response and grabbed her other hand, pushing her lightly away and holding her at arm's length.

"Okay look, I'm sorry but this can't happen right now. I need to make sure everything is going well in the city and you need to stay here." He released one of her hands and turned his eyes to look towards the control room when he felt himself being pushed bodily against the rail and a moment later, Elizabeth's soft lips were pressed firmly against his.

At first he tried to pull away, which proved difficult since she had the upper ground. But after a moment of shock and a little sputtering from John a curious thing happened; he began to feel less concerned about consequences and more concerned about how he felt about Elizabeth. His arms slowly came around her body, holding her tightly to him. His mouth grew more willing, his body grew more relaxed.

After a moment, he unzipped his vest himself and dropped his weapons and supplies to the floor, pulling Elizabeth with him back into her office. Lifting her from the floor, he sat her on her desk and pushed his way between her legs, continuing to kiss her with an urgency that was almost unfamiliar to him. He ran his fingers through her hair; something he'd always wanted to do, and she traced circles under his shirt with her fingers.

He was just wondering why he had waited so long to do this when he heard a shocked, "Colonel!" come from behind him.

They broke apart and John took a moment to still his racing heart before turning. When he did, he found Carson staring at him in disbelief. A second later, John felt his head clear, the haziness disappear, and was left with a throbbing headache. He shook his head and stepped away from Elizabeth, rubbing his eyes.

"Whoa, what the hell just happened?"

"I don't know Colonel, but I was about to ask you the same thing!" He was staring at him incredulously. John raised his hands in response.

"Hey Doc, I don't know what just happened, but I was clearly not in control of my actions. Could Elizabeth have transferred the pathogen to me somehow?"

Carson shook his head disbelievingly. "I doubt it Colonel, especially since you're not showing any symptoms now."

John shook his head again, frowning. "I don't know Carson, something weird definitely happened. My brain went all hazy and I stopped thinking…" he trailed off as Elizabeth wrapped her arms around his midsection. He looked down at them, grimaced at Carson, and carefully pried them off himself, going to pick up his vest and gun. He turned back to Carson.

"Come on, there has to be some reason for it. You know I wouldn't just _do_ something like that, especially since I _know_ Elizabeth's mind is impaired."

Carson pressed his lips together and conceded the point. "I suppose that's true. Well," he paused as he thought for a moment. "I suppose spit may carry an especially high concentration of the pathogen and it may have infected your body at so quick a rate, you didn't have time to neutralize it."

John raised his eyebrows in agreement as he looked over at Elizabeth. "Something was definitely…" he trailed off again and frowned as Elizabeth began to move towards the gate room.

" 'lizabeth?" He asked as he turned to follow her. "What are you doing?"

She walked to one of the consuls in the gate room and started pressing buttons. John looked over her shoulder with a frown. After a moment, she seemed satisfied and the city's shield came up around them. John looked at the consul and then back at her.

"What was that for?"

Elizabeth smiled at him. "Nothing to worry your pretty head about." She reached out and traced a finger down his face, running over his soft lips. He reached up to take her hand.

"Are you feeling okay?" John asked as he looked at her. She laughed lightly.

"Well, considering I'm infected with whatever is coming through the gate, I know I should NOT be feeling okay, but I actually feel better than I have in a long time." She smiled at him and gave him a peck on the lips before he could object. A moment later, an alarm started to issue from another consul and John hurriedly dropped Elizabeth's hand and went to see what the commotion was about. Carson was right behind him.

"There's something else coming through the gate Doc. Any ideas?" John glanced at Carson's concerned blue eyes.

He shook his head. "No Colonel, it doesn't look like this is biological. It's something Rodney would be better suited to figuring out."

John grimaced. "Well, unfortunately _Rodney_ is indisposed at the moment. So, _we're_ going to have to figure this out."

Carson turned to him and actually smiled. "Well, Colonel, we may not have to." He stood there for a moment, smiling, and John raised his eyebrows in irritation.

"What Carson?"

Carson's smile grew wider. "I came up here to tell you that I've found a cure!" He smiled, looked very proud of himself.

"That's great Doc. How long will it be before we can administer it to the population?"

Carson did mental calculations. "Well Colonel, I can easily administer it to Rodney and it should take effect relatively quickly. As for everyone else, the trick will be gettin' them in my lab for treatment."

John shrugged and waved a hand in dismissal. "Nah, just treat Ronan and then he and Nicola can tag team it. We'll all be cured in no time."

Carson raised his eyebrows and smiled. "I for one am glad I'm not affected. I wouldn't want to be in the path of those two." With that, he made his way down the stairs, back towards the lab.

A moment after he left, John was about to get Elizabeth and follow Carson down the stairs when Elizabeth made her way to the DHD. The gate suddenly shut off and Elizabeth began dialing. John quickly ran over to stop her but Elizabeth grabbed a p-90 that had been sitting on the chair next to her, probably discarded by a marine when everyone went berserk. She quickly took off the safety and pointed it at him.

"Not another step John."

John quickly responded in kind, pointing his gun at her as well. "What's going on Elizabeth? What are you doing?"

With her eyes still on him, she finished dialing with her free hand. The gate refused to connect, but prompted for a command on the computer. Elizabeth motioned to it with her gun. "I need your code John."

John slowly rounded the consul so he could see what she was talking about. She was trying to dial the Andalian's home world. Without lowering his gun, he reconnected eyes with Elizabeth.

"Now why would you want to go back there? Having a reprise of the mind control?"

She snorted. "John, I would know if I was under mind control. I just want to see Talana again, a fact I bet you can't bear."

John pressed his lips into a thin line and bit back a retort. It was no use arguing with someone who was "under the influence".

"Look," he began, but Elizabeth cut him off.

"That's enough. Just put in your code so we can be done with this mess."

John looked at the screen again, his mind working hard. He didn't think Elizabeth had reflexes like he did but he really didn't want to find out.

"All right," he said as he lowered his gun. "You want to be prisoner to those people again, be my guest." He walked forward and input his code, the gate dialing in response. He backed away slowly, watching Elizabeth as she locked out the computer. He could get back in with the use of his code but it would take a little time, probably enough time for Elizabeth to run through the gate. He inwardly cursed.

Elizabeth gave John one more steamy look and then took off at a run down towards the gate. John ran forwards onto the balcony with equal quickness, taking the safety off his gun as he did. He quickly dropped to a crouch and lined up his gun, making it just in time to target and shoot Elizabeth in the leg. She fell with sickening quickness and John felt his stomach drop through the floor. But, there was nothing he could have done. He quickly radioed Carson as he ran to the consul, quickly shutting down the gate.

With all haste, he made his way down the stairs to where Elizabeth lay on the ground, a growing pool of blood around her leg.

"You son of a bitch," she said through clenched teeth. Tears were squeezing out her eyes even as she tried to stop them. He quickly took off his jacket, holding it firmly to her leg, his other hand on the other side.

"You'll thank me later," he said, trying to sound flippant. It came out more strangled than he would have liked. It looked like she wanted to retort but didn't have the strength. Carson was there a moment later.

"What happened Colonel!" He was on his knees in an instant, inspecting and tying the wound so they could move her.

"Well Doc, it's kind of a long story but basically, Elizabeth was going to go back to the Andalian's where she would have been held prisoner and probably kept under mind control for the rest of her short life. So… I had no choice Doc, I shot 'er." He looked away from Carson's shocked expression.

"Excuse me?"

"I shot 'er. There was nothing else I could have done except let her go through the gate. Then we probably would never have found her."

Carson continued to look at him in amazement when the gate dialed again cutting off his next sentence.

"Guess they're back to attacking us. Probably figure Elizabeth isn't coming through." John rose to his feet. "She gonna be okay Doc?"

Carson gave him another scathing look, but nodded. "She'll be fine, no thanks to you of course. Now, help me get her on the cart so we can get her to the infirmary."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

An hour later, Rodney had been given the shot, much to his dismay. John had made the mistake of telling him what Carson needed him for and as a result, ended up chasing him around the mess hall for a good ten minutes. It seemed that when faced with a shot, Rodney could be a quick runner. Elizabeth had also been given the drug and her leg sufficiently patched. Carson still couldn't understand how things deteriorated so quickly after he left the gate room but he had accepted John's word that it had been the only way. Still, he continued to comment on it every five minutes. John hadn't spoken to Elizabeth since she'd had the substance neutralized. He was half hoping he wouldn't have to. Ronan and Nicola had been the first to be treated, before John had called Carson to the gate room so they were already out in the city, rounding up team members. John was sitting with Rodney, waiting for the medicine to take effect.

"So," Rodney began after a short lull in the conversation. "Did I tell you I thought of a way to fit the puddle jumpers with hyper-drives?"

John snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yes, several times."

"Oh well, I just didn't know if you heard me…" He looked away for a moment, tapping his feet. "You know what that means right?" he asked as he turned back.

John raised his eyebrows. "That we can travel really far in puddle jumpers and we don't have to worry about getting stranded places without gates?"

Rodney's face turned into a smug smile. "No, it means that I won my bet with Raddick." He watched John to see his reaction. When John just rolled his eyes he looked disappointed.

"This means that I am officially smarter than Raddick, and significantly richer, and all you can do is roll your eyes? I bet you won't be so flippant when-"

Rodney paused as his eyes closed and his head rolled forward, almost propelling him off the stool he was sitting on. A moment later, he opened his eyes again and groaned.

"What the hell…" His eyes found John and he squinted at him, reaching up to message his temples as he did. "What happened? Why am I so full?... And why is my head pounding?"

John jumped off the bed he had been sitting on and clapped Rodney firmly on the back. He winced in response. "It's good to have you back, Rodney. Now, you have work to do that involves saving the city. Sound good?"

Rodney groaned as John heaved him to his feet and Carson handed him some pain killer. "Why is it always my job to save the city?"

John shook his head as he made his way to the door, still holding onto Rodney's jacket. "You're the one who's always reminding us that you're the smartest guy here. You finally tired of living up to the name?"

Rodney grimaced. "Being the smartest guy here isn't always a good thing… especially in instances like this."

"Oh stop complaining and take those pills. You'll feel better in no time."

They made their way quickly, or as quickly as Rodney would allow, to the gate room. It seemed to be getting colder the closer they were to the gate room, but they both thought they were imagining it. They opened the door that led to the stairs and stopped in their tracks as they did. A gust of frigid air met them, billowing out from behind the doors. The sound of a blaring alarm registered in their senses only a moment later and they both looked at each other in alarm. John took off at a run, taking the stairs two at a time, with Rodney close behind. John made it to the consul first.

"What the hell?" He muttered as he looked at the computer. His breath was coming out of his mouth in white puffs. Rodney pushed him out of the way, sitting heavily into the chair. After a moment of frantic typing his face turned into a mask of disbelief.

"Oh no no no no no, this is not possible." He turned to look up at John. "The computer's telling me the city is having trouble keeping the temperature stable. Usually the whole city is regulated but the city seems to think that frigid air is pouring through the gate. It's been pumping heat out but it's doing little good. It's just not able to counter the cold air fast enough. But," he said as he turned back to the screen, rubbing his hands together to warm them, "what I don't understand is where the cold air is coming from. It's obviously coming through the gate, but how?"

He began to type on the computer again and John frowned, stopping him with a jerk of the hand. "Hang on," he said, "so what you're telling me is frigid air is pouring through the gate and you don't have any idea what to do about it?"

"Well," Rodney said, annoyed, "not yet! But I just sat down didn't I? I'll let you know when I know more."

"Wait, how cold are we talking? I mean, 30's? Freezing? Below zero?"

Rodney shrugged. "Well, I can't tell much right now but the temperature in here is currently about 5 Celsius and it's dropped from about 23 Celsius in the past hour. There's no telling how cold it will get, at least not yet. Like I said, I just sat down."

"All right, all right," John replied and let out a sigh. "I'm gonna go round up cold gear and figure out what's happening with the vaccine. You let me know the minute you know more, okay?"

"Will do," Rodney replied, already engrossed in the computer screen.

John quickly made his way to the gear storage area, donning cold gear himself and taking a set for Rodney. After that, he keyed his radio, calling for Carson.

"Yes Colonel, what it is?" Carson replied after a moment.

"Hey Doc we got a situation developing in the gate room, some problem with temperature. Rodney tells me there's frigid air coming through the gate and the city is having a hard time countering it. How are the vaccinations coming? He's going to need all the help he can get. And I need help distributing the gear."

There was a pause on the other side as Carson processed the information. "I thought it was gettin' colder but I assumed it was just my imagination… The vaccinations are going well. Raddick just came in so I'll send him up once he's cured. In the meantime, I'll send some marines to you. They can help you with the gear."

John nodded. "Sounds good. Teyla among the cured yet?"

"No, but I'll send her up the minute she is."

"Sounds good," he said as he grabbed the cold gear and left the room. "Tell the marines to suit up and then supply the infirmary with cold gear. After that, they can head up to the gate room. Sheppherd out."

He quickly made his way up the stairs and back to the gate room, finding Rodney sitting at the same consul looking blue from cold, his body shivering. A thin layer of frost was starting to cover everything in the room.

"Oh th-th-thank god you have c-c-clothes for me. I'm _fffffrezzing _here." He jumped out of his seat and rushed over to grab the gear John had with him. He could barely put it on because he was shaking so much.

"How much _has_ the temperature dropped in the past half hour?" John asked as he glanced at the consul. Rodney shrugged shakily.

"I th-th-think it's somewhere arrrrrround t-t-ten degrees drop. Celsius."

John shook his head, looking at the gate in disbelief. He had donned all the under garments and some of the hard, external wear as well, bringing along the rest of the gear to put on as the temperature continued to drop. At the moment, he was quite warm but if the temperature continued to drop at this rate, none of the gear would do any good.

He sighed, rubbing his hair with a gloved hand and then pulling on a hat. He walked to the window and looked out at the ocean around them.

"Hey," he said as he turned around, looking at Rodney as he sat down at the consul once again, now much warmer. "Why isn't the weather system going crazy out there? I mean, frigid air is pouring in and all looks calm out there."

Rodney seemed to ignore him for a moment as he continued to work and then he frowned. "Huh. It looks like someone activated the shield." He turned to look at John and realization broke onto John's face.

"I was up here earlier with Elizabeth and she came over to the consul and activated the shields."

Rodney frowned. "Why would she do that?"

John shrugged. "You got me. Probably something to do with the mind control she was under. But, Carson said that was gone; that they can't control her anymore..." John activated his radio and turned back to the window. "Doc, I think we may have another problem."

"What's that Colonel?"

"Is Elizabeth still there?"

"I don't know but the last I checked on her she was. Why?"

John grimaced. "You should probably go check. And take a team of marines with you. We think the mind control is back."

"What? Why?"

"It's a long story, but trust me on this one." He disconnected with Carson and turned back to Rodney. "Well, I notified-"

"Don't move," Elizabeth's voice came from behind him. He could feel the thin mouth of a P-90 at his back and he slowly raised his hands.

"Okay, calm down. There's no need for violence," he said as his hands came up.

"Just don't tempt me," she said as she pushed him towards one of the raised command platforms. "You already shot me so my patience is wearing thin." She noticed Rodney moving for his radio but she pulled out another gun from her side pouch and aimed it at him. "Another move and you're both dead. I have no use for you so don't overestimate yourself."

Rodney raised his hands as well. "Okay okay!"

With one gun trained on Rodney and the other to John's back, she pushed him towards the raised platform and then told him to sit. She motioned Rodney over and handed him a pair of cuffs. "Put those on him, and make them tight. I can see if you're faking."

He complied, effectively tying him to the leg of a consul, and then Elizabeth instructed him to sit next to John and she did the same to his hands. She grabbed their radios off their ears and deposited them in her pocket, scanning them for obvious weapons.

Quickly limping to the consul, she locked all the doors around the gate room, sealing them in for as many levels as the computer would allow her. Then, she opened the life signs detector to keep an eye on movement in the halls. Sighing, she let a smile come to her lips.

"It seems," she said smugly as she turned to look at them. "that we are locked up tight as an oyster."

John looked back at her and pressed his lips together. "Elizabeth, this isn't you. I know you can fight this you just have to try. Look at me. You know you don't want to kill us."

She laughed and limped over to him. "I may want to keep you alive for entertainment purposes John," she said as she lowered her face to his ear. "But I have no qualms about killing you." As she pulled back, she reached out a hand and ran a finger along his jaw line, flicking his face away as she did. "It's a pity none of us will be around for much longer. We could have had such fun together." Giving him one last lustful look, she moved over to the consul and sat down on the chair, looking relaxed and almost bored.

John turned to Rodney and began to speak in low tones. "So, what did you figure out?"

"What, in the like thirty minutes I had to work?"

John raised his eyebrows. "Aw come on, for you that's enough time to save this city three times over."

Rodney looked doubtful. "Yeah well, not in this case. I think I figured out what it is, but what I can't figure out is how it's getting through the shield. It's set up to combat these kinds of substances so she must have altered the shield in some way to allow it to come through. I was just going to do a diagnostic on the shield when she so _kindly_ waltzed in here… Why weren't you paying attention anyway?"

John looked at him incredulously. "Me? What about you? She had to have walked right behind you. Why didn't you hear her?"

"Me? I was trying to save the city, thank you very much. And I'm not a soldier, it's not _my _job to keep an eye out. Anyway, I assumed you were watching my back."

"We didn't even know there was a threat, _Rodney._ I _assumed_ I was safe in my own city, especially since we neutralized that substance," he replied, starting to get angry. He took a breath, cutting Rodney's reply off with a kick in the shin.

"Ow! What was that for?" Rodney looked at him angrily.

"This isn't helping us get out of this situation. We're wasting precious time arguing when we should be trying to figure out how to fix the problem."

Rodney sighed angrily and pressed his lips together. "Fine."

After a moment of silence, John turned to him. "Well?"

"I'm thinking," Rodney replied tersely.

OOOOO

Several levels down, Ronan and Nicola were just making their way up to the gate room with a team of marines, finally having cured enough people to let others do the rounding up. They got to the first locked door about three levels below the gate room.

"What the hell?" Ronan muttered and he turned to the team following him. "Anyone know how to open this door?"

One person in a science team uniform stepped forward and proceeded to attempt to open the door. When it refused to open after several tries, he turned to Ronan apologetically. "Sorry, it seems to be jammed or controlled from somewhere else."

Ronan grunted in response and keyed his radio calling for Shepherd or Rodney. When they didn't answer, he tried Carson, who answered quickly.

"Yes Ronan?"

"Hey Doc, we got a situation. The doors to the gate room are locked. We're gonna check the others but we didn't have any luck opening this one. Any idea what's going on up there?"

"God…" came the reply for his radio. "Things just keep gettin' better don't they? Well, son, not long ago the Colonel contacted me and said that Elizabeth's mind control is back. He didn't say how, but my guess is that she has something to do with the lock out. I immediately checked the infirmary and she's gone. With the temperature gettin' lower, the gate room off limits, and John and Rodney out of contact, I would say it's up to you to get us in there Ronan."

He grunted in response, a small smile coming to his lips despite himself. "Yeah well, blowin' up things is what I'm best at." He winked at Nicola who was standing next to him. "We'll get in Doc, don't worry."

"Just be careful," Carson replied.

"No promises," Ronan said and cut the connection. He turned to the group. "All right people, let's have you five over there go around and check other doors and you five with me. How much C4 do we have?"

The group pulled out about two blocks each. Ronan nodded.

"All right. You guys give team two your C4 and we'll use my gun to get through."

A moment later, Ronan was blasting at the door with his gun and two minutes later, they were through. Not far down the hall was the next blast door. Ronan cursed.

"This may take longer than we thought," Nicola commented as they come up short and Ronan proceeded to shoot the door. His only reply was a grunt.

OOOOO

Back in the gate room, Elizabeth was watching the life-signs detector with rapt attention, which left Rodney and John free to talk without her paying them too much attention.

"Look," Rodney was saying, "If I can get to the consul, I'm pretty sure I can fix the problem within minutes. The problem is getting there."

"Well _pretty _sure isn't gonna cut it, Rodney. We're probably only gonna get one shot at this." John spoke in low tones to avoid attracting Elizabeth's attention.

"I know, I know. There's just no way for me to be sure until I actually _see_ what's wrong. So… do you have any good ways to distract Elizabeth?"

John grimaced and pressed his lips together. "Yeah, but I was _hoping_ I wouldn't have to use it."

"_What?_ You mean we could already be out of this situation? But were not because you're holding back your idea?" Rodney looked at him in disbelief.

John grunted in annoyance. "_Rodney_… I would just rather not have to sexually seduce the leader of this base, someone who also happens to be my _friend_ by the way."

"What? Sexually seduce?"

"Yes _Rodney_, sexually seduce. Now, are you up for this or not?" He looked at him pointedly.

"All right, all right, just do it."

John took a deep breath and tried to calm his thumping heart. He hoped Elizabeth would forgive him once she came out of this.

"Elizabeth?" He called in as husky a voice as he could muster, which actually wasn't very difficult considering cold, dry air was pouring into the gate room.

She turned from the screen to look at him in surprise. "Yes John? Is there something you want?"

"Come here," he said simply, not trusting himself to go any further than that. He could feel Rodney squirming uncomfortably beside him.

Elizabeth took one more glance at the screen and then walked towards him, more out of curiosity than anything else.

"Is there something you want?" She asked again.

He looked at her intensely, taking in her blue eyes with his. He felt uncomfortably exposed as he did. "I want you."

Elizabeth's eyebrows rose and she looked as him suspiciously. "You _want_ me? Until now you've thwarted all my advances. Now you suddenly want me?"

John smiled slightly. "I never said I didn't want you, I just kept myself from acting on it."

Elizabeth smile back. "And now you've decided to act?"

"Something like that." He continued to look intently at her, hoping beyond hope that this would work. She came closer to him and leaned over, kissing him lightly on the lips. She smiled at him again.

"And?" She asked.

"And… we should find someplace to go, beside the gate room. Someplace where Rodney isn't sitting right next to me."

He could tell she was fighting with herself. She clearly wanted to take him up on his offer, but she also knew the risks she would be taking if she did. He silently hoped.

"All right," she said finally, "but you stay cuffed."

He smiled and shrugged. "Fine by me."

She reached behind him and unlocked one of the cuffs, freeing one hand so he was no longer attached to the consul. He discreetly slipped that hand in his pocket and brought out a paperclip, handing it carefully to Rodney. He hoped against hope that he had taught Rodney well.

A moment later, he was pulled to his feet and re-cuffed, Elizabeth pushing him towards the door that led onto the balcony. They left the gate room a moment later.

Now it was up to Rodney.

And of course, he had to make sure he didn't ruin his and Elizabeth's relationship forever.

OOOOO

Rodney wrestled with the paper clip for a good two minutes before he managed to get it off. He glanced at the door, feel that at any second it would slide open. He made his way quickly to the consul, pulled off his gloves, and began pushing buttons, trying to figure out how to fix the shield. The answer became readily apparent soon after he began to work. After that, it was a simple matter of putting in a few codes, resetting some formulas, and resetting the gate shield. He had it all accomplished in the space of about ten minutes. When he was done, he unlocked all the doors. The gate shut down a moment later, the people on the other end seeming to realize their plan had failed. He turned to the door to the balcony in surprise, wondering what was going on out there.

OOOOO

Elizabeth was in the middle of a deep kiss, her body pressed against John's, when she suddenly came to her senses and pulled away quickly. John looked up at her and swallowed hard, dreading what was coming next.

"What the hell?" she asked as he looked at John's bashful face. "What were we just doing?"

John smiled. "What do you mean, what were we just doing, kissing of course. Something we're going to continue to do."

He leaned forward to continue kissing her but she angrily pushed him away. "Are you under mind control or something? What's gotten into you?"

John frowned at her and looked at her uncertainly. "Elizabeth? Are you back?"

"Yes, I'm back. What do you mean? Did I leave? What's going on?"

John was trying to formulate an answer when the door to the gate room opened and Rodney stood in the middle looking proud of himself.

"I fixed it," he said smiling at them. "Elizabeth, you back to normal?"

She frowned at him, looked at John, and then looked back at Rodney. "Was I under mind control again?"

"Seems that way," Rodney replied as he walked onto the balcony. "But I figured it would stop once the gate shut down. The first time, they had to infect you with the pathogen, which was what we gave you the vaccine for originally. Then, when they dialed the gate again and started sending stuff through, it reactivated the pathogens in your body and caused you to be under their control again, but only as long as there was a constant stream coming through the gate."

He looked proud of himself as he watched them and Elizabeth nodded. "Well, I'm just glad I'm no longer under their control. Is there any way I can be taken over again?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so. I reconfigured the gate shield so they can't pull the same trick again. Unless you somehow are exposed to the pathogen again, I don't see how it's possible."

She nodded. "Good." She looked over at a sheepish looking Sheppherd. "I think you and I have some things to talk about."

"Right… Can I get these cuffs off first?"

She considered him and her face turned smug. "No, I think they can stay on for a little while longer."

He pressed his lips together and nodded. "I probably deserve that."

She raised her eyebrows. "You definitely deserve that."

OOOOO

Sometime later, after the city's temperature had gone back to normal, John had been freed from his cuffs, and the whole city had been cured, John and Elizabeth met on the balcony next to the gate room.

"So," Elizabeth began, "It's been quite a day."

John grunted in response. "Yeah, that's an understatement."

He turned to look at Elizabeth, his expression reading deep regret. "Look, I'm really sorry about everything. I'm sorry about your leg and I'm really sorry about the seduction thing, it really was the only way."

Elizabeth shook her head, almost smiling. "You know John, after being stationed in this galaxy for how many years, I've learned to accept things like this with grace. Things go wrong that we don't expect and those things lead to consequences. I understand." She smirked at him. "My memories are a little foggy but I remember enough to know that your options were fairly limited. If you hadn't acted, I would be in the hands of the Andalian's or this city would be in a deep freeze. Neither of those options seem especially attractive to me."

He smiled at her slightly. "So… if you remember what happened, does that mean you also remember our kiss?"

She laughed lightly. "Yes John, I remember our kiss rather well. I'm sorry that had to happen. I'll have to apologize to Nicola when I see her." Her face fell slightly as she said it, and it did not go unnoticed by John.

"Yeah, about that, you can apologize to her but she probably won't care."

Elizabeth frowned and turned towards him. "Why's that?" Her mind went instantly to Ronan, wondering if John had found out.

John smiled and Elizabeth's frown deepened. When he didn't answer right away and it became apparent that he was holding back laughter, she exclaimed, "What?"

"Okay, okay. Elizabeth," he said as he looked into her blue eyes. "Nicola is my sister."

Elizabeth's face went to a comical mixture of confusion and disbelief. She started at him, her face working and her mouth hanging slightly open. After a moment, her brain seemed to come back to life and she began to laugh, big, full voiced laughter. Soon, John was laughing with her and tears began to stream down their faces. They laughed for so long that Rodney came onto the balcony from the gate room, asking if they were okay. The waved him away and they both sat down, resting their backs on the balcony railing, their abs hurting from all the laughter. After they had caught their breath, they looked at each other, their eyes dancing.

"So," Elizabeth began once she could talk again. "Nicola is your sister." She shook her head in disbelief and smiled widely. John smiled back.

"Yup, she's been my sister all my life!" Elizabeth laughed again in response.

"But," John continued, "What I can't figure out is why you didn't know that in the first place."

Elizabeth looked away, embarrassed to admit the reason. Now that she thought about it rationally, it was obvious that Nicola was John's sister; they looked alike, they acted alike, and it was obvious the affection John showed her was not affection he would show a lover. She shook her head again, amazed at how blinded she had been by her feelings for John.

John raised his eyebrows at her. "Well?" he asked.

She sighed and turned to look at him. "Well, John, it's kind of embarrassing. I… I actually deleted that original e-mail about Nicola's arrival."

John frowned at her, smiling at the same time. "Why would you do that?"

She looked away, rolling her eyes at herself. "Oh John, I… I don't know, you've been my friend for so long, we've been in each others company every day for how many years now? 5? 6? I guess I was jealous and worried about losing my best friend."

John smirked at her. "Don't tell Rodney."

She glared at him and punched him in the arm. "I'm being serious _John_."

"Okay, okay. You know me and serious."

"Anyway…" she continued and she looked sentimental. "I just didn't want to lose you John. And I saw how comfortable you were with her, how much you love her, it just increased my feelings of jealousy." She looked down at her hands. "That's why I started to pull away, that's why we've been fighting so much."

John looked away, made a little uncomfortable by her admission. He had never been one to admit emotions or to talk about feelings, but Nicola said that was one of the reasons his marriage had ended. And, even though he hadn't wanted to hear it, he knew it was true. And he wanted to change it.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself. "You know Elizabeth, Carson tells me that the people infected with the virus thing gave in to their desires; that was the effect of the virus. And, well, you were pretty much all over me the whole time you were infected."

Elizabeth took a quick breath. "John-

He cut her off before she had a chance to say anything. "It's okay, because I've been wanting to do the same thing for years now."

He looked into her blue eyes that registered surprise. He reached out and ran a hand through her auburn hair, curling it behind her ear and brushing her ear lightly as he did. When she did not pull away, he brought their mouths together in a kiss. It was a short kiss, nothing like the one shared on the balcony, but this time he knew she was giving it to him freely. When he pulled away, they smiled at each other, more content than they had been in a long time. A moment later, the door slid open and Rodney came onto the balcony. John quickly took his hand from her face and turned to look at him.

"Hey," he said a little awkwardly, realizing he had intruded. "Sorry. We're all meeting for a late dinner if you guys want to come."

John glanced at Elizabeth, who smile and him and nodded. "That's sounds good Rodney."

They both rose and followed Rodney in from the balcony, making their way to the mess hall and onto the balcony where Ronan, Teyla, Carson, and Nicola were seated at a table and talking animatedly. They all smiled and welcomed them as they approached. John and Elizabeth squeezed in between Nicola and the railing and Rodney sat next to Carson. Elizabeth turned to Nicola immediately.

"I just wanted to tell you, I'm sorry for the way I've been acting towards you. I…" she glanced at John and smiled, almost laughing again. Turning back, she sighed and smiled. "I thought you were John's girlfriend. And… he's just informed me that you're actually his sister."

John watched with delight as the whole table demonstrated similar reactions to Elizabeth and a moment later, they were all laughing; big, full voiced laughter. Soon, tears were filling Nicolas eyes and even Ronan couldn't help but join in. John felt his own laughter bubbling up and they all laughed together for a long time.

The End


End file.
